Adjacent Words

Belligerent definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BELLIG'ERENT, a. [L. belliger, warlike; belligero, to wage war; from bellum, war, and gero, to wage; part. gerens, gerentis, waging. Gr. war.]
Waging war; carrying on war; as a belligerent nation.
BELLIG'ERENT, n. A nation, power or state carrying on war.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: characteristic of an enemy or one eager to fight; "aggressive acts against another country"; "a belligerent tone" [syn: aggressive, belligerent]
2: engaged in war; "belligerent (or warring) nations" [syn: belligerent, militant, war-ridden, warring] n
1: someone who fights (or is fighting) [syn: combatant, battler, belligerent, fighter, scrapper]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: modification of Latin belligerant-, belligerans, present participle of belligerare to wage war, from belliger waging war, from bellum + gerere to wage Date: 1577 1. waging war; specifically belonging to or recognized as a state at war and protected by and subject to the laws of war 2. inclined to or exhibiting assertiveness, hostility, or combativeness • belligerent noun • belligerently adverb Synonyms: belligerent, bellicose, pugnacious, quarrelsome, contentious mean having an aggressive or fighting attitude. belligerent often implies being actually at war or engaged in hostilities <belligerent nations>. bellicose suggests a disposition to fight <a drunk in a bellicose mood>. pugnacious suggests a disposition that takes pleasure in personal combat <a pugnacious gangster>. quarrelsome stresses an ill-natured readiness to fight without good cause <the heat made us all quarrelsome>. contentious implies perverse and irritating fondness for arguing and quarreling <wearied by his contentious disposition>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 engaged in war or conflict. 2 given to constant fighting; pugnacious. --n. a nation or person engaged in war or conflict. Derivatives: belligerently adv. Etymology: L belligerare wage war f. bellum war + gerere wage

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Belligerent Bel*lig"er*ent, a. [L. bellum war + gerens, -entis, waging, p. pr. of gerere to wage: cf. F. bellig['e]rant. See Bellicose, Jest.] 1. Waging war; carrying on war. ``Belligerent powers.'' --E. Everett. 2. Pertaining, or tending, to war; of or relating to belligerents; as, a belligerent tone; belligerent rights.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Belligerent Bel*lig"er*ent, n. A nation or state recognized as carrying on war; a person engaged in warfare.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

A belligerent person is hostile and aggressive. He was almost back to his belligerent mood of twelve months ago. = aggressive ADJ • belligerently 'Why not?' he asked belligerently. ADV • belligerence He could be accused of passion, but never belligerence. = aggression

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Carrying on war, engaged in war, waging war, contending, in conflict, at war, in arms. 2. Of belligerents, pertaining to parties at war. 3. Antagonistic, rival, contending, hostile, conflicting, opposed, adverse. 4. Warlike, hostile. 5. Bellicose, pugnacious, contentious, quarrelsome, full of fight. II. n. Belligerent state or nation, party to war, contending party, antagonist, rival, combatant, opponent.

Moby Thesaurus

acrid, aggressive, antagonist, antagonistic, antipathetic, ardent, argumental, argumentative, attacking, battler, battling, bellicose, belted knight, bickerer, bickering, bitter, blade, bloodthirsty, bloody, bloody-minded, bravo, brawler, bully, bullyboy, cat-and-dog, cat-and-doggish, caustic, chauvinist, chauvinistic, clashing, colliding, combatant, combative, competitor, conflicting, contender, contentious, contestant, controversial, despiteful, disputant, disputatious, divisive, duelist, enemy, enforcer, eristic, factional, factious, fencer, ferocious, feuder, fierce, fighter, fighting, fighting cock, foilsman, full of fight, full of hate, gamecock, gladiator, goon, gorilla, hatchet man, hateful, hawk, hawkish, hood, hoodlum, hooligan, hostile, hot, inimical, invading, irascible, irritable, jingo, jingoish, jingoist, jingoistic, jouster, knight, litigious, malevolent, malicious, malignant, martial, militant, militaristic, military, offensive, partisan, plug-ugly, polarizing, polemic, pugnacious, quarreler, quarrelsome, rancorous, repugnant, rioter, rival, rough, rowdy, ruffian, saber-rattling, sabreur, sanguinary, sanguineous, savage, scrapper, scrappy, scuffler, set against, shrewish, soldierlike, soldierly, sore, spiteful, squabbler, strong arm, strong-arm man, strong-armer, struggler, swashbuckler, sword, swordplayer, swordsman, tempered, thug, tilter, tough, trigger-happy, truculent, tussler, unfriendly, unpacific, unpeaceable, unpeaceful, venomous, virulent, vitriolic, warlike, warmonger, warmongering, warring, wrangler, wrangling