: an aggressive or truculent attitude, atmosphere, or disposition
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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.
Recent Examples on the WebYet among those quick to cut off Serbia, Russia, or Iran for its belligerence, few have applied the same standards to the United States for its many foreign wars.WIRED, 26 Aug. 2022 Beijing’s belligerence might look like the mark of an ascendant superpower. Michael Beckley, WSJ, 4 Aug. 2022 And then a settler named Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, known for his belligerence toward the Indigenous people in the area, was arrested. Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 28 June 2022 Russia has stepped up its belligerence toward Ukraine, with troop movements, frequent attacks through state propaganda channels and direct threats from Russian leadership. Christopher A. Hartwell, WSJ, 10 Dec. 2021 Murders are up, in New York and elsewhere; airlines are reporting unprecedented belligerence from travellers, and even violence. Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 2 June 2021 The top challenge: China’s global ambitions and increasing belligerence toward Taiwan. Roger F. Wicker, WSJ, 19 Nov. 2021 Australia’s previous prime minister, Scott Morrison, often spoke about the Chinese government with belligerence as relations hit a decades-long nadir.New York Times, 24 May 2022 For not wanting to be nonbelligerent by naming the terms for belligerence. Solmaz Sharif, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2022 See More