Synonyms for bellicose
- adjective
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Combative
combative, belligerent, warlike, pugnacious, quarrelsome, truculent, hawkish, aggressive, contentious, antagonistic, disputatious, warhungry, battleful, bellicist, militaristic, argumentative, philopolemic rare
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Warlike or combative in nature; aggressively hostile.
You don't have to be so bellicose, and we can work out a peaceful solution.
Example sentences
- belligerent She flaunts a belligerent attitude.
- combative The combative patient was given a tranquilizer.
- warlike Under peaceful conditions, the warlike man attacks himself.
- pugnacious Sami was a pugnacious businessman.
- irascible He has an impetuous and irascible personality.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| bellicose | steady | |
| belligerent | steady | |
| combative | rising | |
| warlike | falling | |
| pugnacious | steady | |
| irascible | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 7 letters
- warlike2, hawkish2
- 9 letters
- combative3, irascible4, truculent3, warhungry, battleful, bellicist
- 10 letters
- aggressive3, pugnacious3
- 11 letters
- contentious3, belligerent4, quarrelsome3
- 12 letters
- antagonistic5, militaristic5, disputatious, philopolemic
- 13 letters
- argumentative5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (warlike2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- belliqueux
- Italiano
- bellicoso
- Español
- belicoso
- Deutsch
- kriegerisch