From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbelligerentbel‧lig‧er‧ent /bəˈlɪdʒərənt/ adjective 1 VIOLENTvery unfriendly and wanting to argue or fight SYN aggressive a belligerent attitude2 [only before noun] formalWAR a belligerent country is fighting a war against another country —belligerence, belligerency noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
belligerent• When he questioned her about her seriousness, he said she became belligerent.• The police said that George was drunk and belligerent.• She looked like a tank in her bathing costume, Hoomey thought, squat and powerful and belligerent.• Apparently I became belligerent and he stepped in front of her.• When police officers questioned him, he became belligerent and tried to hit one of them.• They gave my new acquaintance a somewhat belligerent aspect, you may be sure!• Some conversations of couples, whether affectionate or belligerent, have scant informational content.• Harris is a belligerent man with an explosive temper.• Then the sections of the Second International had divided up between the different belligerent powers.• They were belligerent, they were bellicose, they were snotty, they were downright rude.Origin belligerent (1500-1600) Latin present participle of belligerare “to fight a war”, from bellum ( → BELLICOSE) + gerere “to carry on” 