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bellicosity

bellicosity

1 9.9
A tendency to be aggressive and start fights
  • noun
  • /ˌbɛlɪˈkɑsɪti/
translation icon : belicosidad
  • His bellicosity in arguments often led to heated debates that frustrated his friends.

And I think the Republican bellicosity on this issue is so telling and so frustrating because they're not thinking about the consequences.

Examples

  • The perception of Chinese bellicosity damages its interests elsewhere.

    Blog text (6)
  • And I think the Republican bellicosity on this issue is so telling and so frustrating because they're not thinking about the consequences.

  • Here, friendship, youth, and love are most highly valued, and anger and bellicosity are avoided at all costs.

    Academic text (1995)
  • A great deal of this bellicosity is mere campaign theatrics.

    Blog text (15)
  • Others adapt, as John F. Kennedy did when his bellicosity almost provoked World War III.

    Blog text (9)
  • But I see that Romney has toned down his bellicosity, and I see that neocons dare not speak their true mind.

    Blog text (29)
  • But Obama's emphasis on economic and social development was very different from the bellicosity of regime change and the grandiose hopes of Bush's Freedom Agenda.

    Academic text (2010)
  • But subsequent bellicosity, primarily over Cyprus, prompted NATO chief Javier Solana to personally calm tensions between the two countries in early October.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Knowledgeable centrists may well bow out of the argument, feeling that they cannot bring sense either to the simpletons of bellicosity or to the wishful thinkers of global peace.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Two years after Hezbollah's war with Israel, Lebanon is a divided country teetering on the verge of a civil war that is largely a result of Hezbollah's bellicosity toward Israel and its refusal to submit itself to the domain of politics with the rest of Lebanon.

    Academic text (2009)

Synonyms

aggression
vsbellicosity
101 3.5

Hostile or violent behavior toward others

is a tendency to be hostile rather than actual hostile acts
aggressiveness
vsbellicosity
12 4.6

Showing a readiness to attack or threaten others

is about a tendency rather than merely a forceful quality
viciousness
vsbellicosity
10 6.3

Being very cruel and violent toward other people or animals

is about a fighting tendency rather than deliberate cruelty or violence
fierceness
vsbellicosity
6 3.5

A strong feeling or force, for example during a storm

is a general inclination rather than intense wildness or violence
belligerence
vsbellicosity
5 7.9

Unfriendly and aggressive behavior that tries to start a fight

is the basic tendency to be inclined to fight rather than explicitly warlike
combativeness
vsbellicosity
1 7.5

A willingness to argue or fight

is a broader inclination rather than immediate readiness to fight
aggressivity
vsbellicosity
  • Specialized
1 8.0

A tendency to act in a forceful or angry way toward others

focuses on inclination rather than the capacity to act
ferociousness
vsbellicosity
1 7.0

Very violent and cruel actions that frighten people

is a tendency to fight rather than savage or animal-like violence
bellicoseness
vsbellicosity
9.9

A habit of starting arguments or fights

is the same tendency but phrased as a general inclination
truculency
vsbellicosity
  • Formal
9.9

A quick angry way of behaving that leads to arguments

is the general inclination rather than quickness to argue
pitbull attitude
vsbellicosity
  • Informal
8.2

A very determined and strong way of behaving that seems aggressive

is a general inclination rather than an intense, determined manner
overaggressiveness
vsbellicosity
8.4

A way of acting that is too forceful and hostile in words or actions

is a tendency to fight rather than an excessive or extreme level

Antonyms

6 6.2

The belief that using violence, like fighting or war, is wrong and people should solve problems peacefully

How Aggressive

truculence
  • Formal
1 9.9
belligerence
5 7.9
bellicosity
1 9.9
hostility
147 4.7

Surface Forms

bellicosity singular
bellicosities plural

Morphology

bellicosity = bellicose (transparent) = bellicose + osity

The noun denotes the state or tendency of being 'bellicose' (warlike), a direct nominalization of the adjective.

Etymology

Bellicosity comes from the Latin word bellum, which means 'war', and the same root is in belligerent. So bellicosity is the tendency to be 'warlike' or ready to fight.