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

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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
• militant
• hostile
• contentious

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

Delightfully pugnacious contempt for plot and human interest. —New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025

Andre was shorter and heavyset, with a long beard and pugnacious face. —Literary Hub, 9 Oct. 2025

Even aside from Trump’s own enthusiastic personal immorality and impiety, his political style — the pugnacious smear artist and demagogic braggart — was the antithesis of what evangelicals had sought before. —Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 23 Sep. 2025

Then Martinez, famously one of the commission’s most pugnacious members, decided to share a response. —Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 15 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1642, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for pugnacious

• pertinacious
• rapacious

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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