Belligerent
Etymology
From Latin "belligerare" (to wage war), from "bellum" (war) and "gerere" (to wage, carry on). The same "bellum" gives "bellicose" and "antebellum"; a belligerent person carries the posture of war into ordinary life.
adjective · /buh-LIJ-uh-runt/
Aggressively hostile and eager to fight.
What it names
A readiness for conflict as a standing disposition — someone spoiling for a fight, not merely angry in a moment.
Example
Three drinks in, he turned belligerent, taking every mild remark as a challenge.
Related idea
Belligerent implies active aggression and a hunger for conflict; truculent implies a sullen, defiant fierceness that resists and provokes without necessarily seeking open battle.
noun · /buh-LIJ-uh-runt/
A nation, group, or person actively engaged in a war or armed conflict.
What it names
a party to a fight or war
Example
Under the Geneva Conventions, captured belligerents are owed specific protections.
Related idea
The word names exactly the party that pacifism refuses to become.