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
Jeff Shear2
: 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
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
Paul Richter
hawkishly
adverb
Land is expensive, scarce, and watched hawkishly by environmentalists.
—Boston Magazine
Boston Magazine
hawkishness
noun
… his Western anti-government philosophy and cold-war hawkishness…
—Jon Meacham
Jon Meacham
Examples of hawkish in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Reassuring results from Micron breathed life back into the AI-infrastructure theme while a cool CPI reading allowed investors concerned about a hawkish Fed to exhale, allowing for a relief bounce in the indexes that for now looks welcome but inconclusive.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 18 Dec. 2025
This has been a subject of heated debate among tech executives, even hawkish ones: OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI firms have argued against selling advanced American AI chips to China, as a way to maintain the nation’s technological edge.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 12 Dec. 2025
With policymakers sharply divided and with a more hawkish rotation ahead, additional cuts now require more definitive signs that labor momentum is cooling and that core inflation is settling closer to 3% in early 2026.
—Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 11 Dec. 2025
What is a ‘hawkish cut?' Daniel de Visé Most forecasters expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates on Dec. 10.
—Rachel Barber, USA Today, 10 Dec. 2025
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Michael Santoli, CNBC, 18 Dec. 2025
This has been a subject of heated debate among tech executives, even hawkish ones: OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI firms have argued against selling advanced American AI chips to China, as a way to maintain the nation’s technological edge.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 12 Dec. 2025
With policymakers sharply divided and with a more hawkish rotation ahead, additional cuts now require more definitive signs that labor momentum is cooling and that core inflation is settling closer to 3% in early 2026.
—Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 11 Dec. 2025
What is a ‘hawkish cut?' Daniel de Visé Most forecasters expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates on Dec. 10.
—Rachel Barber, USA Today, 10 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hawkish
Cite this Entry
“Hawkish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hawkish. Accessed 6 Jan. 2026.
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