different between ferocious vs bellicose

English

Etymology

Taken from Latin ferox (“wild, bold, savage, fierce”) (with the suffix -ous), from ferus (“wild, savage, fierce”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f???????s/
• Rhymes: -????s

Adjective

ferocious (comparative more ferocious, superlative most ferocious)

1. Marked by extreme and violent energy.
   • 1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift [Avon ed., 1976, p. 376]:

     But it seemed to me that there were few faces like his, with the ferocious profile that brought to mind the Latin word rapax or one of Rouault's crazed death-dealing arbitrary kings.
2. Extreme or intense.

Synonyms

• fierce

Derived terms

• ferociously

Related terms

• ferity
• ferocity
• fierce
• feral

Translations

Further reading

• ferocious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• ferocious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• ferocious at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

From Middle English [Term?], from Latin bellicosus.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?b?l?ko?s/, /?b?l?ko?s/

Adjective

bellicose (comparative more bellicose, superlative most bellicose)

1. Warlike in nature; aggressive; hostile.
   • 12 July 2012, Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift

     The core Ice Age cast—wooly mammoth Manny (Ray Romano), sabertooth tiger Diego (Denis Leary), and sloth Sid (John Leguizamo)—are set adrift, sailing the high seas on a chunk of ice until they collide with a bellicose primate (Peter Dinklage).

2. Showing or having the impulse to be combative.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:combative

Antonyms

• pacific

Related terms

• antebellum
• bellicosity
• bellicism
• belligerent
• Bellona
• postbellum
• rebel
• rebellion

Coordinate terms

• trigger-happy
• warmonger

Translations

Italian

Adjective

bellicose f pl

1. feminine plural of bellicoso

Latin

Adjective

bellic?se

1. vocative masculine singular of bellic?sus

References

• bellicose in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)