Meaning & use
bellicose
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Meaning
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
Showing an eagerness to start fights, arguments, or war.
Grammar: Can describe people, groups, or language; comparison is usually more bellicose and most bellicose.
Patterns
- bellicose rhetoric
- bellicose leader or regime
- grow increasingly bellicose
- bellicose tone
The senator's bellicose speech alarmed allies.
A bellicose neighbor can make daily life tense.
Officials rejected the bellicose warning.
Word forms
| comparative | more bellicose |
|---|---|
| superlative | most bellicose |
Common combinations
- bellicose rhetoric
- The article criticized the candidate's bellicose rhetoric.
- increasingly bellicose
- The talks became increasingly bellicose after midnight.
- bellicose tone
- A bellicose tone made the email hard to answer calmly.
- bellicose regime
- Neighboring states watched the bellicose regime closely.
Synonyms and how they differ
- aggressive
- Aggressive is broader and can mean forceful in business or sports; bellicose specifically leans toward conflict or war.
- hostile
- Hostile means unfriendly or opposed; bellicose adds readiness to fight.
- warlike
- Warlike is close and often formal, but bellicose can also describe argumentative speech.
Opposites
Word family
- bellicosity noun
- A formal noun for a bellicose quality.
- bellicism noun
- A formal word for advocacy of war.
Commonly confused: bellicose or belligerent? bellicose or aggressive?
bellicose vs belligerent
Belligerent can mean actively fighting in a war or behaving confrontationally; bellicose emphasizes eagerness for conflict.
bellicose vs aggressive
Aggressive can be neutral in contexts like marketing; bellicose is almost always negative and conflict-hungry.
Practice
The editorial ___ threatened neighbors and praised conflict.
Choose one answer.
Bellicose matches eagerness for conflict. Conciliatory means aimed at peace, while timid and indifferent do not convey aggressive hostility.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bellicose”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.