Bellicose
(pronounced bel-ih-kohs) adjective
Definition
inclined or eager to fight or quarrel; of a hostile disposition; having a fighting or warlike attitude.
Other Forms
Bellicosity (pronounced bel-ih-kos-ih-tee) noun
Main Example
- One of the key election planks of Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s new president, was that he would like to pursue a more conciliatory approach with the North. So, there is a good chance we will see markedly less bellicosity emanating from the regime in Pyongyang.
Workplace Examples
- Yeah, nobody here has had much sleep--we’ve been working all night, thanks to that bellicose email threatening a lawsuit if we don’t meet their noon deadline.
- If I were you, I’d avoid Bill for now. He is quite drunk and in a pretty bellicose mood.
Other Examples
- a colleague saying: “No, I don’t think Jill was joking when she made that remark. I could tell from her bellicose tone that she was trying to belittle me.”
- somebody with a reputation for becoming bellicose when questioned about his work
- during the last couple of years, especially since the signing of that nuclear deal, statements issued by Iran becoming less bellicose toward the U.S.; Cold War rhetoric reaching the height of its bellicosity during the years when the Soviet Union was headed by Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev; while Obama was president, a bellicose Republican Party being virulently against the signing of any agreement whatsoever with Iran
- one of the most bellicose--yet entertaining--current affairs shows on TV: PBS’s “The McLaughlin Group” which ended last year following the death of host John McLaughlin
- In a nationally hailed speech delivered to Congress nine days after the Sept. 11 attacks, President George W. Bush used bellicose language when he put the Taliban on notice to hand over Osama bin Laden immediately or face an attack by the United States.
