militant
MIL-ih-tuntadjMeaning fighting hard and aggressively for a cause
Memory hook MILIT-ANT: an ANT army for a cause. The ants march in a fierce line with tiny signs: SAVE OUR HILL! They will fight hard for their anthill: they are militant.
The militant members of the garden club demanded that every lawn in town become a vegetable patch.
In context Most neighbors wanted to write polite letters about the park, but a militant few wanted to block the road and refuse to leave until the bulldozers were gone.
Similar aggressive, combative, radical, zealous
Opposite moderate, peaceful, passive
From Latin militare, “to serve as a soldier,” from miles, “soldier,” the root of military.