as in hostilities
a state of armed violent struggle between states, nations, or groups
fortunately, the cool relationship between the two nations never escalated into a hot war
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Recent Examples of hot war
Iran clearly wants to de-escalate its hot war with Israel, which is now in its fifth day and ostensibly over a nuclear program Israel sees as an existential threat.
—
Philip Elliott, Time, 17 June 2025
Despite sporadic efforts at peace talks, there are two hot wars in progress – between Russia and Ukraine, and between Israel and Gaza.
—John Dorfman, Forbes.com, 2 June 2025
With Trump, the thinking goes, Putin can turn a hot war into a cold one and be satisfied with that—after all, Russian military and financial resources are not unlimited.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 9 May 2025
New Delhi certainly has no intention of sparking a hot war.
—Michael Kugelman, Time, 3 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for hot war
Philip Elliott, Time, 17 June 2025
Despite sporadic efforts at peace talks, there are two hot wars in progress – between Russia and Ukraine, and between Israel and Gaza.
—John Dorfman, Forbes.com, 2 June 2025
With Trump, the thinking goes, Putin can turn a hot war into a cold one and be satisfied with that—after all, Russian military and financial resources are not unlimited.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 9 May 2025
New Delhi certainly has no intention of sparking a hot war.
—Michael Kugelman, Time, 3 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for hot war
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hot war
hostilities
Noun
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These meetings initially took place virtually and then in person across different capitals, seeking a cessation of hostilities and the establishment of humanitarian corridors.—
Daniel R. Depetris,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Apr. 2025
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But Putin had other ideas, tying a halt in hostilities to the West readmitting certain Russian banks into the West’s financial network.—
Daniel DePetris,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hot war.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hot%20war. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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