bellicose

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈbɛlɪˌkoʊs/ UK /ˈbɛlɪkəʊs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
inclined to fighting or war; aggressively hostile

His bellicose speech alarmed the neighboring states.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · inclined to fighting or... belligerent pugnacious combative warlike aggressive truculent hostile

Opposites

peaceable pacific irenic conciliatory

Word family

Derived forms bellicoselybellicosity

Related forms belligerent belligerency rebel

Simplified etymology

Bellicose ultimately derives from Latin bellum, “war,” and means “warlike.” It belongs to the same Latin word family as rebel.

Etymology

From Latin bellicōsus ('warlike'), from bellicus ('of war'), from bellum ('war').

bellicōsus Latin bellum Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# bellicose

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈbɛlɪˌkoʊs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈbɛlɪkəʊs/

## Meanings
1. inclined to fighting or war; aggressively hostile

## Examples
- His bellicose speech alarmed the neighboring states.

## Synonyms
- belligerent
- pugnacious
- combative
- warlike
- aggressive
- truculent
- hostile

## Antonyms
- peaceable
- pacific
- irenic
- conciliatory

## Derived Forms
- bellicosely
- bellicosity

## Related Forms
- belligerent
- belligerency
- rebel

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bellicōsus
- Root: bellum

## Etymology
From Latin bellicōsus ('warlike'), from bellicus ('of war'), from bellum ('war').

## AI Etymology
Bellicose is from Latin bellicōsus ('warlike'), from bellicus ('of war'), from bellum ('war'). Important recorded forms include bellicōsus (Latin) and bellum (Latin). The current sense covers inclined to fighting or war; aggressively hostile. The wider family includes derived forms such as bellicosely and bellicosity and related words such as belligerent, belligerency, and rebel.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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