Hostile is the strongest word in this group, and connotes an attitude of intense ill will and a course of action based on that attitude: hostile intentions of the enemy; the malicious barbs of a hostile critic.

Unfriendly , as here considered considered, bellicose and belligerent imply an aggressive readiness to fight and an attitude that is usually careless of the object of its ill will.

• A bellicose nation is a warlike nation that tends to resort to arms with little or no cause; a belligerent pub brawler who picked a fight for the sake of fighting; an unfriendly tribe that attacked all interlopers without regard for their intent.