belligerence
noun
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Belligerent, Belligerents, and Belligerence
Belligerent may function as either an adjective or a noun. As an adjective, it has two primary meanings, each of which corresponds to the two senses of its noun form.
The older sense (“waging war”) is generally used to refer to the actions or combatants of a nation at war, or to the nation itself ("belligerent operations"; "belligerent troops"; “the belligerent state”); it is paralleled by the earliest sense of the noun, “a nation at war” (“the belligerents assembled at the peace conference”). The second sense of belligerent (“inclined to or exhibiting assertiveness, hostility, or combativeness”), which usually applies to persons or animals, or to their attitudes or actions, likewise parallels the second sense of the noun (“a person taking part in a fight”). A related noun belligerence refers to “an aggressive or truculent attitude, atmosphere, or disposition” that can be either individual or global.
Synonyms
Examples of belligerence in a Sentence
Michael Green, Foreign Affairs, 19 Nov. 2024
His belligerence could come directly from the two New York tabloid heroes of his formative years in the city: John Gotti, the gangster who led the Gambino crime family, and George Steinbrenner, the owner of the Yankees.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024
White columnists wrote him open letters, processing their own feelings about race, alternating between flattery and belligerence.
—Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024
It is founded on reasoned judgment rather than emotional belligerence.
—Michael S. Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 6 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for belligerence 
Dictionary Entries Near belligerence
Cite this Entry
“Belligerence.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/belligerence. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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belligerence
noun
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