bare-knuckle
adjective or adverb
bare-knuck·le
ˈber-ˈnə-kəl 
variants
or less commonly bare-knuckled
or bare-knuckles
1
: not using boxing gloves
… champion bare-knuckle prizefighter of England …—
Dennis Craig
Dennis Craigwhen men fought bare-knuckle
2
: having a fierce unrelenting character
bare-knuckle politics
Examples of bare-knuckle in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The film followed Chan Lok-kwun (Raymond Lam), a mainland refugee trying to pay his way to a fake ID by winning bare-knuckle brawls.
—Marcus Lim, Variety, 29 Oct. 2025
Sharing your knitting patterns is certainly more wholesome than bare-knuckle political fighting on X.
—Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 20 Oct. 2025
The 2022 bare-knuckle holiday sensation Violent Night followed an embittered Santa, armed with lethal combat skills, who takes out a team of ruthless mercenaries to rescue a girl and her family.
—Justin Kroll, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2025
And to go bare-knuckle with the Chargers.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 7 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bare-knuckle
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Marcus Lim, Variety, 29 Oct. 2025
Sharing your knitting patterns is certainly more wholesome than bare-knuckle political fighting on X.
—Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 20 Oct. 2025
The 2022 bare-knuckle holiday sensation Violent Night followed an embittered Santa, armed with lethal combat skills, who takes out a team of ruthless mercenaries to rescue a girl and her family.
—Justin Kroll, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2025
And to go bare-knuckle with the Chargers.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 7 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bare-knuckle
Cite this Entry
“Bare-knuckle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bare-knuckle. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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