belligerent

CEFRC1

/bəˈlɪdʒ.ə.ɹənt/

noun · adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    someone who fights (or is fighting).

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Eager to go to war, warlike.

Examples

  • That pot-bellied, belligerent green ogre is back for yet another animated adventure.

  • Sami was being so belligerent.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
2
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • [bəˈlɪdʒ.ə.ɹənt] ~ [bəˈlɪdʒ.ə.ɹn̩t]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meaning

  1. Of or pertaining to war.

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Engaged in warfare, warring.

  2. Acting violently towards others.

More examples

In context

  • The UN sent a treaty proposal to the belligerents.

  • Sami is being belligerent.

  • And I think the facts are that Beijing is a belligerent bully jealous and envious of what Taiwan has accomplished- mainland China- that's what I get out of all of this.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The blank dog growled and snapped at every passing stranger.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Latin belligerans (“waging war”), present active participle of belligerō (“to wage war”), from belliger (“waging war, warlike”), from bellum (“war”) + -ger (from gerō (“to lead, wage, carry on”)).