Synonyms for belligerent

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belligerent implies engagement in war or fighting or in actions that are likely to provoke fighting belligerent nations; bellicose implies a warlike or hostile nature, suggesting a readiness to fight a bellicose mood; pugnacious and quarrelsome both connote aggressiveness and a willingness to initiate a fight, but quarrelsome more often suggests pettiness and eagerness to fight for little or no reason; contentious suggests an inclination to argue or quarrel, usually with annoying persistence