belligerent
Americanadjective
-
warlike; given to waging war.
-
of warlike character; aggressively hostile; bellicose.
a belligerent tone.
- Synonyms:
- contentious, antagonistic, quarrelsome, combative, truculent, pugnacious
-
waging war; engaged in war.
a peace treaty between belligerent powers.
-
pertaining to war or to those engaged in war.
belligerent rights.
noun
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a state or nation at war.
-
a member of the military forces of such a state.
adjective
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marked by readiness to fight or argue; aggressive
a belligerent tone
-
relating to or engaged in a legally recognized war or warfare
noun
Other Word Forms
- belligerently adverb
- interbelligerent adjective
- unbelligerent adjective
- unbelligerently adverb
Etymology
Origin of belligerent
First recorded in 1570–80; earlier belligerant, from Latin belligerant-, stem of belligerāns “waging war,” present participle of belligerāre “to wage war,” verb derivative of belliger “warlike,” from belli- (combining form of bellum, earlier duellum “war”; duel ( def. ) ) + ger(ere) “to carry, conduct, display”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But he was also a professional in the business of occasionally belligerent ghosts, and it would take much more than this to rattle him.
From Literature
Perhaps the belligerents realized that attacking this critical infrastructure threatened to create a catastrophic humanitarian disaster.
From Salon
Navy began escorting ships to protect them as both belligerents attacked oil industry assets.
International law requires belligerents in a war to assist sailors wounded or shipwrecked in battle.
Colombo would follow the Hague Convention, the official added, noting it says that "a neutral power which receives on its territory troops belonging to the belligerent armies shall intern them".
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
