Synonyms of fighting

fighting 1 of 3

adjective

as in battling

Related Words

• battling
• warring
• savage
• cross
• vicious
• testy
• ugly
• hostile
• irritable
• disagreeable
• ornery
• peevish
• fretful
• petulant
• dyspeptic
• bilious
• fractious
• acidic
• antagonistic
• irascible
• grumpy
• surly
• bristly
• touchy
• querulous
• waspish
• choleric
• snappish
• grouchy
• pettish
• combative
• bearish
• crabby
• huffy
• cranky
• belligerent
• stroppy
• warlike
• confrontational
• aggressive
• ill-tempered
• militant
• prickly
• fierce
• gladiatorial
• assaultive
• feisty
• pugnacious
• bellicose
• quarrelsome
• ill-natured
• ill-humored
• agonistic
• snappy
• contentious
• argumentative
• hot-tempered
• scrappy
• rude
• chippy
• discordant
• brawly
• disputatious
• truculent

Dissimilar Words

• peaceful
• peaceable
• pacific
• nonaggressive
• uncombative
• friendly
• pleasant
• benevolent
• conciliatory
• nonbelligerent
• unwarlike
• quiet
• calm
• cordial
• gracious
• good-natured
• amiable
• unbelligerent
• ingratiating
• amicable
• sociable
• genial
• complaisant
• obliging
• easygoing
• uncontentious
• antimilitarist
• affable
• mild
• kindhearted
• relaxed
• tranquil
• serene
• gentle
• anti-imperialist
• benign
• kindly
• good-tempered

fighting

2 of 3

noun

as in combat

Related Words

• combat
• warfare
• battle
• skirmish
• engagement
• action
• civil war
• war
• world war
• cold war
• police action
• hostilities
• conflict
• holy war
• limited war
• conflagration
• hot war

Dissimilar Words

• peace
• disarmament
• demobilization
• demilitarization
• pacification
• truce
• calm
• tranquility
• peacefulness
• ceasefire

fighting

3 of 3

verb

present participle of fight

1

as in combating

to oppose (someone) in physical conflict

a proud people who have fiercely fought all invaders of their homeland

Synonyms & Similar Words

• battling
• combating
• dueling
• beating
• clashing (with)
• wrestling
• skirmishing (with)
• warring (against)
• hitting
• punching
• knocking
• slapping
• striking
• boxing
• jousting
• pounding
• scrimmaging (with)
• sparring
• battering
• smacking
• slugging
• banging
• slamming
• hammering
• brawling
• whacking
• bashing
• thumping
• smiting
• swatting
• buffeting
• swiping
• grappling
• slogging
• batting
• bumping
• pasting
• whaling
• belting
• scuffling
• clobbering
• bopping
• colliding
• socking
• tussling
• thwacking
• bludgeoning
• walloping

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• submitting
• giving up
• surrendering

2

as in opposing

to strive to reduce or eliminate

a civil rights leader who dedicated his life to fighting prejudice

Synonyms & Similar Words

• opposing
• combating
• battling
• countering
• resisting
• confronting
• contending (with)
• withstanding
• oppugning
• thwarting
• facing
• frustrating
• foiling
• checkmating
• baffling
• defying
• meeting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• promoting
• advancing
• encouraging
• fostering
• cultivating
• suffering
• furthering
• forwarding
• supporting
• bearing
• enduring
• nurturing
• advocating
• abiding
• nourishing
• upholding
• backing
• endorsing
• championing

3

as in competing

to engage in a contest

everyone on that street seems to be fighting to see who can create the gaudiest holiday lighting display

Synonyms & Similar Words

• competing
• contending
• battling
• racing
• vying
• rivaling
• playing
• facing off
• challenging
• maneuvering
• engaging
• jostling
• jockeying
• working
• trying out
• going out
• training

4

as in bickering

to express different opinions about something often angrily

if you kids continue to fight, I'm turning this car around and we're heading back home!

Synonyms & Similar Words

• bickering
• arguing
• quarreling
• clashing
• brawling
• wrangling
• squabbling
• disputing
• debating
• scrapping
• discussing
• rowing
• controverting
• hassling
• quibbling
• spatting
• falling out
• altercating
• jarring
• tiffing
• argufying
• brabbling
• contesting
• mixing it up
• locking horns
• contending
• butting heads
• bandying words
• protesting
• tangling
• challenging
• daring
• kicking
• defying
• objecting
• fussing
• nitpicking
• considering
• caviling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• coexisting
• getting along
• accepting
• agreeing
• consenting
• concurring
• assenting

5

as in resisting

to refuse to give in to

I tried to fight the temptation to eat another cookie—and lost

Synonyms & Similar Words

• resisting
• opposing
• withstanding
• repelling
• combating
• bucking
• defying
• battling
• contesting
• thwarting
• countering
• contending (with)
• stemming
• contradicting
• challenging
• hindering
• disputing
• obstructing
• checking
• frustrating
• balking
• foiling
• baffling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• submitting (to)
• yielding (to)
• bowing (to)
• surrendering (to)
• succumbing (to)
• stooping (to)
• giving in (to)
• capitulating (to)
• knuckling under (to)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of fighting

Adjective

After having two children and settling into post-fighting life on her farm in Riverside, Rousey seriously began to consider an MMA return last year. — CBS News, 17 May 2026

Speaking ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Johnson told the BBC that the troops should be sent to peaceful regions in non-fighting roles. — ABC News, 21 Feb. 2026

But this story isn’t just for pro-fighting fans. — Victoria Moorwood, Cincinnati Enquirer, 26 Oct. 2025

Some had joined Ukrainian combat units as volunteers, while others have sought to assist the Ukrainian people in non-fighting capacities. — Dan Lamothe, Washington Post, 4 Feb. 2023

But the computer model couldn’t distinguish fighting roosters from non-fighting roosters. — Jeff Horwitz, WSJ, 17 Oct. 2021

Noun

Ukrainian forces have recently begun using mechanized tactics involving armored fighting vehicles to clear these positions. — Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026

Lee was a veteran unionist spending his career fighting to improve workers’ conditions while Ho, a lawyer by profession, was a founding member of the city’s biggest opposition Democratic Party, which was disbanded in late 2025. — Chris Lau, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026

Mortal Kombat 11 Mortal Kombat 11 takes the familiar fighting-game formula and gives you plenty of ways to personalize it. — Stackcommerce Team, PC Magazine, 21 Aug. 2026

Hernandez wants to earn more paydays from his craft of fighting, and then return to a simple life in rural Yolo County. — Joe Davidson, Sacbee.com, 21 Aug. 2026

Identifying set-piece takers gives you a fighting chance of cutting through the uncertainty, so who is likely to be on penalties and free kicks for each Premier League side, and who is worth your fantasy investment? — Holly Shand, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026

The league's own compliance guidance explicitly says its enforcement staff oversees player conduct during preseason, regular-season and postseason games, and specifically identifies fighting as conduct within its jurisdiction. — Armando Salguero Outkick, FOXNews.com, 20 Aug. 2026

The striking photo was taken along India's west coast where locals give sea turtle hatchlings (Lepidochelys olivacea) a fighting chance by escorting them from their nests to the water. — New Atlas, 20 Aug. 2026

No fighting Hafley has a strict policy against fighting in the practice setting. — David Furones, Sun Sentinel, 20 Aug. 2026

Verb

Body camera footage shows that Jonah Neal did not pose a threat that warranted deadly force when a member of the federal crime-fighting task force in Memphis shot him in late May, according to a lawyer representing his family. — Juliana Kim, NPR, 23 Aug. 2026

Surveillance video obtained by ABC7 New York shows two men fighting in the street before gunshots ring out, and a vehicle swerves around the moped, appearing to flee the scene. — Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 23 Aug. 2026

An ascending coach on one side in Texas A&M’s Mike Elko and a one fighting a tough narrative in USC’s Lincoln Riley. — Scott Dochterman, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2026

In response, Raman said her committee focused on data to make sure the city’s investment in fighting homelessness is paying off. — Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2026

Compton fought in major WWII campaigns, including D-Day and Operation Market Garden and was wounded during fighting in the Netherlands. — Ashley Hume , Larry Fink, FOXNews.com, 23 Aug. 2026

With just over 10 weeks to go until November’s midterm elections, Democrats are still fighting over the future of their party. — NBC news, 23 Aug. 2026

In This Article My grandfather passed in November after several months of fighting cancer. — Alexandra Emanuelli, Southern Living, 22 Aug. 2026

Xi has said fighting against corruption is essential to the party’s survival, and its ability to stay in power depends on strict discipline and political loyalty. — Sylvie Zhuang, CNN Money, 16 Aug. 2026