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hawkish

hawkish

14 7.9
Supporting the use of military force in politics
  • adjective
  • /ˈhɔːkɪʃ/
translation icon : belicista
  • Second, hawkish reactions hint that the time may soon come for more aggressive action.
  • more hawkish
  • dovish or hawkish
  • territorially hawkish

I don't think he imagined sort of neo con hawkish foreign policy establishment coming in.

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Examples

  • Many analysts believe that the new administration will adopt a more hawkish stance on military intervention in the Middle East.

  • Both the president and Congress were at least nominally committed to a hawkish position on the deficit.

    Academic text (1997)
  • So I am much less hawkish than I used to be.

  • Where with Trump, I mean, actually, if anything, he is a little more hawkish than even Biden.

  • However, the Bush administration did not always adopt a hawkish approach in foreign policy.

    Academic text (2004)
  • The appearance of such a convenient environment also encouraged the hawkish wing of the organization.

    Academic text (2017)
  • There were even calls from the normally hawkish Likud party to retreat.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Not surprisingly, hawkish Indian strategists urged the government to firm up its stand on the nuclear question.

    Academic text (1997)
  • President George W. Bush's view of North Korea clearly demonstrates a hawkish stance.

    Academic text (2004)
  • Today, commentators tend to believe that Reagan's hawkish reputation was always a political asset.

    Academic text (2010)

Synonyms

warlike
vshawkish
13 5.5

Ready to fight or attack

advocates specific hard political measures and military intervention instead of general hostility
jingoistic
vshawkish
3 9.1

Showing extreme pride in a country and wanting to fight other countries

supports force for strategic or political reasons rather than fanatical patriotism

Antonyms

2 6.8

Prefer peaceful policies and oppose military action

How Hawkish

jingoistic
3 9.1
militaristic
8 7.4
hawkish
14 7.9
moderate
85 4.6
dovish
2 6.8

Surface Forms

hawkish positive

Morphology

hawkish = hawk (semi-transparent) = hawk + ish

Formed by productive suffixation (hawk + -ish) but the political sense depends on a cultural metaphor mapping the bird's aggressiveness to policy preference, which may not be obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Hawkish comes from the bird hawk and the ending -ish, which means 'like'. Hawks are birds of prey that hunt and attack, so calling someone 'hawkish' says they favour force or strong military action instead of peaceful solutions.