bellicism
/ˈbɛlɪsɪzm̩/
"bellicism" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bellicism” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An inclination to war; warlike policy or behaviour.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bellicism · bellicism · English
bellicism · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bellicism |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɛlɪsɪzm̩/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “bellicism” in English
Rare enough to double-check
bellicism is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbɛlɪsɪzm̩/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An inclination to war; warlike policy or behaviour.".
Zero misspellings are on record for bellicism in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin bellic(us) + -ism. The correct English form is bellicism, spelled B-E-L-L-I-C-I-S-M.
Definition
- 1An inclination to war; warlike policy or behaviour.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bellicism appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
One cannot understand the causes of the First World War unless one appreciates the degree of bellicism in European society at that time, especially in Central Europe […].
Today the phrase "holy war" suggests a no holds barred fanaticism, a form of unbridled bellicism.
Etymology
From Latin bellic(us) + -ism.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.