belligerent
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Eager to go to war.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
buhlijeruhntSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
bəˈlɪdʒɚənt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Eager to go to war, warlike.
Engaged in warfare, warring.
Of or pertaining to war.
by extension
Aggressively hostile, eager to fight.
Acting violently towards others.
Uncooperative.
noun
A state or other armed participant in warfare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Eager to go to war, warlike.
Used this way, belligerent is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It carries warmth, so it reads as personal rather than detached.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Keen and enthusiastic
- Usage feel
- Warm and expressive
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.