QUARRELSOME Synonyms: 147 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How is the word 'quarrelsome' distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of quarrelsome are bellicose , belligerent , contentious , and pugnacious . While all these words mean "having an aggressive or fighting attitude," quarrelsome stresses an ill-natured readiness to fight without good cause. // the heat made us all quarrelsome

Q: When might 'bellicose' be a better fit than 'quarrelsome'?

The words bellicose and quarrelsome can be used in similar contexts, but bellicose suggests a disposition to fight. // a drunk in a bellicose mood

Q: In what contexts can 'belligerent' take the place of 'quarrelsome'?

Although the words belligerent and quarrelsome have much in common, belligerent often implies being actually at war or engaged in hostilities. // belligerent nations

Q: When is it sensible to use 'contentious' instead of 'quarrelsome'?

While the synonyms contentious and quarrelsome are close in meaning, contentious implies perverse and irritating fondness for arguing and quarreling. // wearied by his contentious disposition

Q: When can 'pugnacious' be used instead of 'quarrelsome'?

In some situations, the words pugnacious and quarrelsome are roughly equivalent. However, pugnacious suggests a disposition that takes pleasure in personal combat. // a pugnacious gangster

quarrelsome

adjective

ˈkwȯr(-ə)l-səm

Definition of quarrelsome next

as in aggressive

feeling or displaying eagerness to fight a quarrelsome student who was always being sent to the principal's office for starting fights in the halls

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in contentious

given to arguing you're so quarrelsome: you can never do anything without a fuss

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How is the word quarrelsome distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of quarrelsome are bellicose, belligerent, contentious, and pugnacious. While all these words mean "having an aggressive or fighting attitude," quarrelsome stresses an ill-natured readiness to fight without good cause.

the heat made us all quarrelsome

When might bellicose be a better fit than quarrelsome?

The words bellicose and quarrelsome can be used in similar contexts, but bellicose suggests a disposition to fight.

a drunk in a bellicose mood

In what contexts can belligerent take the place of quarrelsome?

Although the words belligerent and quarrelsome have much in common, belligerent often implies being actually at war or engaged in hostilities.

belligerent nations

When is it sensible to use contentious instead of quarrelsome?

While the synonyms contentious and quarrelsome are close in meaning, contentious implies perverse and irritating fondness for arguing and quarreling.

wearied by his contentious disposition

When can pugnacious be used instead of quarrelsome?

In some situations, the words pugnacious and quarrelsome are roughly equivalent. However, pugnacious suggests a disposition that takes pleasure in personal combat.

a pugnacious gangster

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of quarrelsome The almost too-perfect sibling rivalry storyline marched on following the release of 2001’s Lions and a joint tour with fellow famously quarrelsome brother duo Oasis — winkingly called the Tour of Brotherly Love — after which the Crowes went on hiatus in 2002. —

Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019 Paranoid, controlling, quarrelsome and rigid, LadyBird turns out to have a traumatic secret of her own. —

Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2024 The art was also a way of transmuting the intense emotions of South Korea’s civil war, postwar poverty and military dictatorship, as well as what was widely remembered as his own difficult, sometimes quarrelsome personality, into a kind of everyday serenity. —

Will Heinrich, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2023 Park’s sense was that it had been historically applied to unusually quarrelsome women. —

Robert Samuels, The New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2023 See all Example Sentences for quarrelsome

Recent Examples of Synonyms for quarrelsome

Adjective

Instead, her life was turned upside down last week after President Donald Trump’s administration began instituting mass layoffs as part of an aggressive effort to trim the federal workforce.

— Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY, 17 Feb. 2025
Beef, coffee and orange juice are among groceries with higher prices, but eggs are uniquely affected by the aggressive strain of avian flu, which has strained supply.

— Dakin Andone, CNN, 16 Feb. 2025