aggression

The act of initiating hostilities or invasion.

Noun

  1. The act of initiating hostilities or invasion.
    • Control, dispossession, violence, and tyranny are not “defensive”: they are part of an organized, ongoing aggression. - 2019 April 28, Hagai El-Ad, “What kind of democracy deports human rights workers?”, in Yoni Molad,...
  2. The practice or habit of launching attacks.
  3. Hostile or destructive behavior or actions.
    • The decision to impose a steel and aluminum tariff is an act of aggression which makes trade war between the two pillars of the West a grim possibility. - 2018, Michael Cottakis – LSE, “Colliding worlds: Donald Trump...
  4. A desire for confrontation and often violence; an urge to physically harm something or someone.
  5. The initiation or threat of conflict; coercion.

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *gʰredʰ-der. Latin gradior Latin aggredior Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin aggressiōder. Middle French aggressionbor. English aggression From Middle French aggression, from Latin aggressio, from aggressus, past participle of aggredior (“to approach, address, attack”). By surface analysis, ag- + -gress + -ion.

Forms

aggressions

Antonyms

nonaggression

Related

aggress aggressive aggressiveness aggressor

Derived

aggressionism aggressionist antiaggression autoaggression counteraggression cute aggression cyberaggression hyperaggression macroaggression microaggression nanoaggression non-aggression axiom non-aggression principle overaggression passive-aggression unaggression war of aggression