bellicism
UK/ˈbɛlɪsɪzm̩/
bellicism noun: an inclination to war; warlike policy or behaviour.
Noun
bellicism (uncountable)
- An inclination to war; warlike policy or behaviour.
- One cannot understand the causes of the First World War unless one appreciates the degree of bellicism in European society at that time, especially in Central Europe […].1962, Michael Howard, The Causes of Wars, page 271
- Today the phrase "holy war" suggests a no holds barred fanaticism, a form of unbridled bellicism.2003, Timothy Patrick Jackson, The Priority of Love, page 126
- Synonyms:
- hawkism, militarism, warism, warmongerism
bellicism meaning in Arabic
bellicism in Arabic
- an inclination to war — see also militarism
- عُدْوَانِيَّة ʕudwāniyya
Synonyms of bellicism
Antonyms
Origin of bellicism
From Latin bellic(us) + -ism.
Questions about bellicism
- What does bellicism mean?
- Bellicism means an inclination to war; warlike policy or behaviour.
- What is bellicism in Arabic?
- Bellicism in Arabic is عُدْوَانِيَّة (ʕudwāniyya). See Bellicism meaning in Arabic.
- What part of speech is bellicism?
- Bellicism is a noun.
- How do you pronounce bellicism?
- Bellicism is pronounced /ˈbɛlɪsɪzm̩/ (UK).
Words near bellicism in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: bellicism (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “bellicism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bellicism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
