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

As the labor market chugs along, the Fed on Wednesday teased a more hawkish bent, with three presidents dissenting on its bias toward future cuts. —Eleanor Mueller, semafor.com, 29 Apr. 2026

Amarnath argued that the data has now turned so hawkish that the committee should be debating hikes, not cuts. —Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2026

As a young veteran, Hegseth championed the 2007 Iraq surge embraced by hawkish Republicans such as John McCain. —Michael Scherer, The Atlantic, 27 Apr. 2026

Three days of decisions in Washington, Ottawa, London, Frankfurt and Tokyo are widely anticipated to result in unchanged borrowing costs across the club of rich nations, with each central bank seen keeping a hawkish eye on fallout from the Iran war. —Craig Stirling, Bloomberg, 25 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1747, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for hawkish

• mawkish