pugnacious
adjective
Did you know?
Pugnacious individuals are often looking for a fight. While unpleasant, at least their fists are packing an etymological punch. Pugnacious comes from the Latin verb pugnare (meaning "to fight"), which in turn comes from the Latin word for "fist," pugnus. Another Latin word related to pugnus is pugil, meaning "boxer." Pugil is the source of our word pugilist, which means "fighter" and is used especially of professional boxers. Pugnare has also given us impugn ("to assail by words or arguments"), oppugn ("to fight against"), and repugnant (which is now used primarily in the sense of "exciting distaste or aversion," but which has also meant "characterized by contradictory opposition" and "hostile").
Synonyms
- aggressive
- agonistic
- argumentative
- assaultive
- bellicose
- belligerent
- brawly
- chippy
- combative
- confrontational
- contentious
- discordant
- disputatious
- feisty
- gladiatorial
- militant
- quarrelsome
- scrappy
- truculent
- warlike
Example Sentences
Pete Bodo, New York Times, 22 Oct. 1995 Herz sees himself as a pugnacious sardine going up against rule-flouting sharks. Richard Wolkomir, Smithsonian, August 1992 He was a short man with heavy shoulders, a slight potbelly, puffy blue eyes, and a pugnacious expression. Alice Munro, New Yorker, 2 Jan. 1989 Podhoretz takes a more pugnacious and protesting stance, insisting on the word "seriousness" at all times and punctuating it with the word "moral". Christopher Hitchens, Times Literary Supplement, 30 May 1986 There's one pugnacious member on the committee who won't agree to anything. a movie reviewer who is spirited, even pugnacious, when defending her opinions See More Erin Berger, Outside Online, 30 Apr. 2021 The meeting between Stephen Singer, the pugnacious head of the state’s public defense agency, and Oregon’s chief justice went off the rails almost immediately. oregonlive, 15 Aug. 2022 Slusher’s pugnacious approach at times led to hard feelings. oregonlive, 19 July 2022 To his astonishment, the girl’s stepfather, John Callanan, a tough harbor pilot who embodied the new nation’s pugnacious democratic spirit, took Bedlow to court, initiating his prosecution for rape. Fergus M. Bordewich, WSJ, 22 July 2022 One of the most vocal government cheerleaders is Ramzan Kadyrov, the pugnacious leader of Chechnya, whose Telegram channel has mushroomed to nearly two million followers from about 300,000 before the war. New York Times, 16 Apr. 2022 In particular, the strength of Émilie is found in her manner—for which the credit should go to Zhang, a young actress whose blunt, somewhat pugnacious way of speaking is an authentic and effective mark of personal style. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2022 The former lawyer, a pugnacious Trump critic who once considered a presidential run of his own, fell from grace after being hit with three federal indictments in a six-week period in 2019. Lauren Del Valle And Kara Scannell, CNN, 24 Jan. 2022 And after a deliberate effort to program feel-good films in 2021 – a recognition by the programming team that its pandemic-weary audience was looking for a pick-me-up – Chirilov says Transilvania has also reclaimed its old pugnacious spirit. Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 16 June 2022 See More Word History
Latin pugnac-, pugnax, from pugnare to fight — more at pungent
1642, in the meaning defined above
pugnacious
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- aggressive
- militant
- hostile
- contentious
- irritable
- feisty
- belligerent
- combative
- confrontational
- bellicose
- assaultive
- warlike
- truculent
- fierce
- ugly
- acidic
- quarrelsome
- disputatious
- agonistic
- argumentative
- scrappy
- vicious
- savage
- chippy
- gladiatorial
- brawly
- rude
- irascible
- antagonistic
- discordant
- ornery
- fighting
- petulant
- snappish
- peevish
- disagreeable
- waspish
- querulous
- surly
- fretful
- cross
- bilious
- hot-tempered
- grumpy
- grouchy
- choleric
- fractious
- dyspeptic
- testy
- bristly
- ill-tempered
- on the warpath
- warring
- huffy
- crabby
- stroppy
- touchy
- ill-humored
- cranky
- battling
- pettish
- ill-natured
- prickly
- bearish
- snappy
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- nonaggressive
- peaceable
- amiable
- peaceful
- affable
- unwarlike
- nonbelligerent
- pacific
- friendly
- easygoing
- conciliatory
- benevolent
- gracious
- genial
- pleasant
- uncontentious
- amicable
- sociable
- cordial
- complaisant
- ingratiating
- kindhearted
- quiet
- calm
- antimilitarist
- obliging
- good-natured
- uncombative
- unbelligerent
- serene
- gentle
- tranquil
- mild
- good-tempered
- relaxed
- benign
- anti-imperialist
- kindly
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of pugnacious are bellicose, belligerent, contentious, and quarrelsome. While all these words mean "having an aggressive or fighting attitude," pugnacious suggests a disposition that takes pleasure in personal combat.
The synonyms bellicose and pugnacious are sometimes interchangeable, but bellicose suggests a disposition to fight.
While the synonyms belligerent and pugnacious are close in meaning, belligerent often implies being actually at war or engaged in hostilities.
Although the words contentious and pugnacious have much in common, contentious implies perverse and irritating fondness for arguing and quarreling.
The meanings of quarrelsome and pugnacious largely overlap; however, quarrelsome stresses an ill-natured readiness to fight without good cause.