: having or showing reckless disregard for safety or personal welfare
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In 1274 and 1281 Kublai Khan, the Mongol emperor of China, sent out great fleets to conquer Japan. Providential storms dispersed the fleets on both occasions and reinforced the Japanese belief that their gods would forever protect them. To the Japanese this salvation was kamikaze, “divine wind.” In World War II Japanese pilots who were willing to give up their lives to help save their country by destroying American ships were the members of a special corps named kamikaze after the storm that had saved Japan seven centuries earlier.
Adjective a bike messenger who regularly cuts across busy city streets with a kamikaze boldness
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Shaw was paid to play a ferocious sociopath on a kamikaze course through society, a role that called for a type of rage and recklessness that had invaded his youth, and nearly driven him to murder. Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 28 June 2022 One deftly framed the debate over a contentious bill; the other recommended his party go full kamikaze. Karl Rove, WSJ, 26 Jan. 2022 The Harop, by contrast, dives at its target like a kamikaze, exploding on impact. Thomas Mutch, Popular Mechanics, 29 Oct. 2021 But as the generation who lived through the war fades away, Japan’s opposing political sides are vying to reinterpret the kamikaze for a public divided over the conflict’s legacy. Ben Dooley, Star Tribune, 3 Dec. 2020 The kamikaze are the most potent symbol of the war in Japan, a vivid example of the dangers of fervent nationalism and martial fanaticism. Ben Dooley, Star Tribune, 3 Dec. 2020 The kamikaze are the most potent symbol of the war in Japan, a vivid example of the dangers of fervent nationalism and martial fanaticism. Ben Dooley, New York Times, 3 Dec. 2020 The following year, the battleship participated in the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, sustaining damage in separate kamikaze and artillery attacks. Alex Fox, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 May 2020
Adjective
The White House knows the term ‘loitering munition’ for drones fitted with warheads for kamikaze-style attacks, like the U.S. Switchblades supplied to Ukraine, and did not use it in the statement. David Hambling, Forbes, 15 July 2022 The Switchblade drone is the newest form of lethal assistance -- a small kamikaze-style drone launched from a tube that can track and attack armored targets. Conor Finnegan, ABC News, 16 Mar. 2022 The annexation plans were shelved, not canceled, and not in response to the Palestinians’ kamikaze-style pressure tactics. Adam Rasgon, New York Times, 17 Nov. 2020 On the morning of May 1, George Sherwood, a 17-year-old signalman, stood watch on the bridge as it was attacked by a kamikaze aircraft; 48 servicemen were killed or went missing, and more than a hundred others were wounded.New York Times, 21 May 2020 The USS Nevada also played a key role in the invasion of Okinawa, where a Japanese kamikaze attack on March 27, 1945 left 11 of the ship's crew members dead and 41 wounded. Stephen Smith, CBS News, 13 May 2020 Flock-93, for example, is a vision of 100 kamikaze-like drones, each armed with an explosive charge, swarming targets like vehicle convoys. Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, 10 Feb. 2020 This new threat replicated the kamikaze attacks and threatened to overwhelm American defenses. Haomiao Huang, Ars Technica, 25 Mar. 2020 Yet generally, these dancers seem less like kamikaze street warriors than scampering puppies, who like nothing more than to run around in circles and wriggle on their backs. Ben Brantley, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2020 See More