Definition of "bloody-minded" [blood•y-mind•ed]

• Ready and willing to accept bloodshed or to resort to violence: "forging alliances with bloody-minded tyrants” ( Lewis H. Lapham). (adjective)
• Chiefly British Perversely cantankerous: "The . . . unions . . . have never been as bloody-minded about demarcation as the shipbuilders” ( Spectator). (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "This was no bloody-minded rebel screaming for the heads of his enemies but an honest farmer forced to take up arms to defend his country."
• "Look, the question is, are you interested in--is your idea of victory being creating an international consensus, or is it getting rid of this bloody-minded dictator, who has tyrannized his people for 42 years and set an example for the rest of the Arab world?"
• "Also, you have to admire the bloody-minded preserverence of the folks over there at 97-100 "AAAAA" s."