hawkish

adjective

hawk·​ish ˈhȯ-kish 

1

: resembling or suggesting a hawk or the beak of a hawk in appearance

a hawkish nose

He has a thatch of black curly hair and hawkish features.

—Jeff Shear

2

: having a militant attitude (as in a dispute) and advocating immediate vigorous action

especially : supporting war or warlike policies

a hawkish politician

He was a frequent and persistently hawkish participant in the war councils of the Administration.

—Vincent Blasi

While definitions vary, "neoconservative" generally refers to formerly moderate policy advocates who favor a hawkish and assertive foreign policy to implant democracy and American values abroad.

—Paul Richter

hawkishly adverb

Land is expensive, scarce, and watched hawkishly by environmentalists.

—Boston Magazine

hawkishness noun

… his Western anti-government philosophy and cold-war hawkishness…

—Jon Meacham

Examples of hawkish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This isn’t to say that Pottinger’s hawkish views on the need for U.S. intervention in East Asia would earn him a place in a second Trump Administration. —Ian Buruma, The New Yorker, 24 June 2024

Investors didn’t seem too spooked by the hawkish change in the Fed’s outlook, however, partly because many forecasters already had fewer than three rate cuts penciled in for this year. —Paolo Confino, Fortune, 12 June 2024

There was no immediate report on if or how the hawkish Netanyahu responded to Biden’s demands. —Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 4 Apr. 2024

In Connecticut, many liberal Democrats increasingly soured on Lieberman’s hawkish stances on defense and his support of Republican views. —Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 27 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1747, in the meaning defined at sense 1