as in aggressive
feeling or displaying eagerness to fight
a seafarer's legend that the remote island was inhabited by a warlike and uncivilized tribe
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of warlike
Freyja, however, is a more warlike goddess, and even has a part in selecting warriors for her hall in the afterlife.
—
Erik Kain, Forbes, 2 Jan. 2025
Some characters die violently in a warlike atmosphere, and the remaining ones struggle with their losses.
—Common Sense Media, Washington Post, 12 July 2024
Writing in the journal Current Biology, researchers from Harvard University found that male bonobos actually engage in three times the amount of mano-a-mano combat than their more warlike cousin, the chimpanzee.
—Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 5 June 2024
China is constantly searching for opportunities to take bits of territory and catch its opponent by surprise, without taking overt warlike actions.
—Brahma Chellaney, Foreign Affairs, 2 Apr. 2021
See All Example Sentences for warlike
Erik Kain, Forbes, 2 Jan. 2025
Some characters die violently in a warlike atmosphere, and the remaining ones struggle with their losses.
—Common Sense Media, Washington Post, 12 July 2024
Writing in the journal Current Biology, researchers from Harvard University found that male bonobos actually engage in three times the amount of mano-a-mano combat than their more warlike cousin, the chimpanzee.
—Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 5 June 2024
China is constantly searching for opportunities to take bits of territory and catch its opponent by surprise, without taking overt warlike actions.
—Brahma Chellaney, Foreign Affairs, 2 Apr. 2021
See All Example Sentences for warlike
Recent Examples of Synonyms for warlike
Adjective
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The offensive line had five presnap penalties, and allowed four sacks and 11 tackles for loss to an aggressive Lobos defense.—
Shaun Goodwin,
Idaho Statesman,
12 Oct. 2025
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Not only does the quarterback need to be accurate and aggressive, but the play caller needs to dial up ways to create advantageous one-on-one situations and the receivers have to win those chances.—
Derrik Klassen,
New York Times,
12 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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But Afghan-Pakistan relations have soured amid an uptick in militant violence against Pakistan.—
Lex Harvey,
CNN Money,
15 Oct. 2025
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By this time, however, Hamas had already begun to eclipse secular rivals in popularity and Palestinian elections held in 2006 led to a victory for the Islamist militant group, sparking clashes with the PA's leading Fatah faction and Hamas' eventual takeover of the territory the following year.—
Tom O'Connor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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By this time, the eastern Roman empire, where Zosimus lived, had been fairly thoroughly Christianized, but Zosimus was a pagan hostile to Christianity.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Oct. 2025
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The United States plans to upgrade its radars to improve their ability to identify hostile ballistic missiles targeting the homeland, according to a government announcement, as nuclear adversaries Russia, China and North Korea advance their missile capabilities.—
Ryan Chan,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Warlike.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/warlike. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.
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