Skip to content
GREMockTests
GRE vocabulary

belligerent

adjectiveHigh-frequency wordMore B words

hostile and aggressively ready to fight

Word origin: From Latin belligerare, to wage war (bellum war plus gerere to carry on).

Start a free GRE mock test 39 minutes · free · instant score
In a sentence

Belligerent in a sentence

Here are example sentences showing belligerent in a sentence.

The belligerent customer demanded a refund and threatened to sue.

The senator's belligerent tone during the hearing alienated the very colleagues whose support his bill required.

Synonyms
hostilecombativepugnaciousantagonistic
Antonyms
amicableconciliatory

Quick GRE check

Question 1 of 3

3 questions, about 2 minutes. How would you do on the real test?

Verbal · Sentence Equivalence

The new intern was so blank that she completed in two days a backlog her predecessor had let pile up for weeks.

Select the two answers that give the sentence the same meaning. 0 of 2 selected.

Usage & nuance

Using “belligerent” well

Belligerent describes an aggressive readiness to fight or argue, stronger than merely irritable. As a noun it can also denote a nation or party engaged in war.

Common questions

Questions about “belligerent”

Belligerent (adjective) means hostile and aggressively ready to fight
Here is belligerent used in an example sentence: "The belligerent customer demanded a refund and threatened to sue." Another example: "The senator's belligerent tone during the hearing alienated the very colleagues whose support his bill required."
Common synonyms for belligerent include hostile, combative, pugnacious, antagonistic.
Antonyms of belligerent include amicable, conciliatory.
Belligerent clusters with hostile, combative, pugnacious, and antagonistic in Sentence Equivalence. Its antonyms amicable and conciliatory are common opposite-context answers.
Yes. Belligerent is a high-frequency GRE word, so it is worth prioritising as you build your vocabulary.

See these words the way the GRE tests them.

Take the free 39-minute GRE Quick Mock Test and meet words like this inside real Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions, with a worked solution for every answer.