pugnacious

adjective

pug·​na·​cious ˌpəg-ˈnā-shəs 

: having a quarrelsome or combative nature : truculent

pugnaciously adverb

pugnaciousness noun

pugnacity

ˌpəg-ˈna-sə-tē 

noun

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

Choose the Right Synonym for pugnacious

belligerent, bellicose, pugnacious, quarrelsome, contentious mean having an aggressive or fighting attitude.

belligerent often implies being actually at war or engaged in hostilities.

belligerent nations

bellicose suggests a disposition to fight.

a drunk in a bellicose mood

pugnacious suggests a disposition that takes pleasure in personal combat.

a pugnacious gangster

quarrelsome stresses an ill-natured readiness to fight without good cause.

the heat made us all quarrelsome

contentious implies perverse and irritating fondness for arguing and quarreling.

wearied by his contentious disposition

Examples of pugnacious in a Sentence

That's a bass for you: pugnacious, adaptable and ever ready to demonstrate that the first order of business on any given day, drought or no drought, is eating anything that it can fit its big, powerful mouth around. —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

Recent Examples on the Web

The normally pugnacious Trump campaign took the rare step of distancing itself from Hinchcliffe. —Jill Colvin, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2024

Sebastian Stan plays a young Trump rising to power in the New York real estate world under the lascivious mentorship of pugnacious power broker Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong). —Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 27 Oct. 2024

The pugnacious owner even claimed to have gotten into a fistfight with Dodgers fans in an elevator in the Hyatt Wilshire Hotel in 1981 after the Dodgers won three straight in L.A. to take the lead in the World Series 3-2. —Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2024

She is widely regarded as a pragmatist who lacks the charisma, oratory skills and pugnacious nature of the outgoing populist president. —Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin pugnac-, pugnax, from pugnare to fight — more at pungent

First Known Use

1642, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

pugnacious

adjective

pug·​na·​cious ˌpəg-ˈnā-shəs 

: showing a readiness to fight

pugnaciously adverb

pugnacity

-ˈnas-ət-ē 

noun