aggressor
n. countablen. a person, group, or country that starts a fight or an attack without being provoked first.
n. a person or entity that initiates a hostile action or an unprovoked attack. Often used in legal or political contexts to distinguish the initiator from the party acting in self-defence.
The international community identified the neighbouring country as the aggressor.
In many legal systems, the court must determine who was the initial aggressor before deciding if a claim of self-defence is valid.
Historians continue to debate whether the empire was a calculated aggressor seeking expansion or merely a reactive power responding to perceived threats on its borders.
From Latin aggressor (“attacker, assailant, aggressor”).
Commonly used in the singular to identify a specific party in a conflict.