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YOUR VOCABULARY, ONE WORD AT A TIME

Belligerent

Adjective

IPA /bəˈlɪdʒərənt/

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Meaning in plain English

Hostile and aggressive.

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Pronunciation

Belligerent/bəˈlɪdʒərənt/

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  1. A small disagreement

  2. Ready to attack or argue

A belligerent response is hostile and aggressive.

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Examples in context

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  1. His belligerent attitude made it impossible to have a peaceful conversation.
  2. The customer’s belligerent tone made a calm discussion difficult.

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His ________ attitude made it impossible to have a peaceful conversation.
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Belligerent — Hostile and aggressive.

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Hostile and aggressive.

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Word origin

From Latin belligerare — bellum ("war") + gerere ("to wage").

Did you know?

Belligerent can describe an aggressive attitude. As a noun, a belligerent is a person, group or country taking part in a war.

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Belligerent

/bəˈlɪdʒərənt/ (Adjective)

“Use belligerent for an aggressive attitude or tone. It does not necessarily mean that a physical fight occurs.”

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