belligerent

(bə-lĭj'ər-ənt)
adj.

1. Inclined or eager to fight; hostile or aggressive.
2. Of, pertaining to, or engaged in warfare.

n.
One that is hostile or aggressive, especially one that is engaged in war.

[Latin belligerāns, belligerant-, present participle of belligerāre, to wage war, from belliger, warlike : bellum, war + gerere, to make.]

belligerently bel·lig'er·ent·ly adv.

SYNONYMS   belligerent, bellicose, pugnacious, contentious, quarrelsome. These adjectives mean having or showing an eagerness to fight. Belligerent refers to a tendency to hostile behavior: A belligerent reporter badgered the politician. Bellicose and pugnacious suggest a natural disposition to fight: "All successful newspapers are ceaselessly querulous and bellicose" (H.L. Mencken). A good litigator needs a pugnacious intellect. Contentious implies chronic argumentativeness: "His style has been described variously as abrasive and contentious, overbearing and pompous" (Victor Merina). Quarrelsome suggests bad temper and a perverse readiness to bicker: "The men gave him much room, for he was notorious as a quarrelsome person when drunk" (Stephen Crane).

View more Law & Legal Issues videos

adjective

1. Having or showing an eagerness to fight: bellicose, combative, contentious, hostile, militant, pugnacious, quarrelsome, scrappy, truculent, warlike. See attack/defend.
2. Inclined to act in a hostile way: aggressive, combative, contentious, hostile, militant. See attack/defend, attitude/good attitude/bad attitude/neutral attitude.
3. Of or engaged in warfare: combatant, hostile, militant. Idioms: at war. See attack/defend.

noun

One who engages in a combat or struggle: combatant, fighter, soldier, warrior. See conflict/cooperation.

adj

Definition: nasty, argumentative
Antonyms: cooperative, helping, kind, nice

adj. engaged in a war or conflict, as recognized by international law: a conference of socialists from all belligerent countries | both belligerent powers.

n.

a nation or person engaged in war or conflict, as recognized by international law: ships and goods captured at sea by a belligerent | the movement of belligerents into threatening positions.

belligerently adv.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

IN BRIEF: Having angry aggressive feelings.

The new manager's belligerent manner was quickly losing him support.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

For a list of words related to belligerent, see:

• Security and Defense - belligerent: nation at war that has been granted status in international law subjecting it to obligations and laws of war
• Strong, Bold, or Tough
• Angry, Emotional, Aggressive, or Passionate

---

See words rhyming with "belligerent."

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - krigsførende, i konflikt
n. - krigsførende nation

Nederlands (Dutch)
agressief, krijgshaftig, oorlogvoerend, partij in oorlog/conflict

Français (French)
adj. - belligérant, agressif
n. - belligérant

Deutsch (German)
adj. - aggressiv, kriegerisch, kampflustig
n. - kriegführende Partei, am Streit Beteiligter

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - εμπόλεμος
adj. - φιλοπόλεμος, φίλερις

Italiano (Italian)
aggressivo, battagliero

Português (Portuguese)
n. - beligerante (m) (f)
adj. - agressivo, beligerante, hostil

Русский (Russian)
воюющий, агрессивный, воинственный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - beligerante, agresivo, belicoso, combativo
n. - beligerante

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - krigförande, stridslysten, krigsförande makt
adj. - krigförande, krigisk, aggressiv

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
好战的, 交战国的, 交战的, 交战国, 参加斗殴的人

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 好戰的, 交戰國的, 交戰的
n. - 交戰國, 參加鬥毆的人

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 호전적인, 교전 중인, 용감한
n. - 교전국, 적

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 交戦中の, 好戦的な, 喧嘩腰の, けんか早い
n. - 交戦国, 戦闘員

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) متحارب, محارب, دوله متحاربه (صفه) ميال للحرب أو المجادله, عدائي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮מלחמתי, לוחם‬
n. - ‮מלחמתי, לוחם‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.