Warhawks

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A member of a political or military group advocating for aggressive or interventionist policies in foreign affairs
2. An individual who supports or promotes military action rather than diplomatic solutions in international conflicts
3. A person or faction that favors the use of military force to resolve disputes, often in contrast to those who prefer negotiation and peace efforts

Etymology: Warhawks came to English through the old hawk-as-fighter image, not from any specific coiner. The "war hawk" pairing appears in American political use in the early nineteenth century, when a group of congressmen pressed for war with Britain in 1812. Their nickname, "War Hawks," was applied to them by opponents, and it stuck well enough that historians still use it for that faction. The image draws on the hawk as a bird of prey, a creature that strikes rather than negotiates, and it had been used for aggressive figures in English long before that. The compound itself is plain: "war," from Old English "wering" and related Germanic words for conflict, joined to "hawk," a bird of prey with an ancient Germanic lineage. The plural "warhawks" and the singular "warhawk" are both formed in the usual way, and the form was later applied to aircraft and military hardware, such as the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk of the Second World War.

Synonyms: hawks, militarists

Antonyms: doves, peacemakers