as in aggressive
feeling or displaying eagerness to fight
a movie reviewer who is spirited, even pugnacious, when defending her opinions
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pugnacious
The Godfather director steals the show here as an energetic, pugnacious and visionary circus ringleader who put his money where his mouth was for a project that wound up flopping critically and commercially.
—
Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
Some Democrats may thrill each time Newsom delivers one of his pugnacious pronouncements.
—Mark Barabak, Mercury News, 19 July 2025
Keefe was an Irish Republican from Boston, the son of a meat cutter, who made his name in New Haven as a pugnacious defender of the oppressed from their oppressors.
—Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 11 July 2025
Netanyahu’s pugnacious rhetoric, his growing reliance on the war and on his hard-right allies for his political survival, and the IDF’s conduct on the ground all suggest a preference for fighting on.
—Max Rodenbeck, Foreign Affairs, 25 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for pugnacious
Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
Some Democrats may thrill each time Newsom delivers one of his pugnacious pronouncements.
—Mark Barabak, Mercury News, 19 July 2025
Keefe was an Irish Republican from Boston, the son of a meat cutter, who made his name in New Haven as a pugnacious defender of the oppressed from their oppressors.
—Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 11 July 2025
Netanyahu’s pugnacious rhetoric, his growing reliance on the war and on his hard-right allies for his political survival, and the IDF’s conduct on the ground all suggest a preference for fighting on.
—Max Rodenbeck, Foreign Affairs, 25 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for pugnacious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pugnacious
Adjective
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Sell assets for picks and cap space and attack an aggressive rebuild this offseason.—
Paul Dehner Jr,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
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Control an aggressive infestation with a preemergent herbicide applied in late summer before chickweed seeds germinate.—
Megan Hughes,
Better Homes & Gardens,
4 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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As such, the political and militant body – which has governed the territory since June 2007 – will need to be in a desperate situation to accept the terms.—
Asher Kaufman,
The Conversation,
30 Sep. 2025
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Trump’s peace plan has backed Hamas into a corner, leaving the militant group to face an existential dilemma.—
Oren Liebermann,
CNN Money,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Tampa is heading into a hostile environment against a feisty Seattle Seahawks team that matches them with a 3-1 record.—
Josh Buckhalter,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
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Republicans, traditionally seen as more hostile to government, are often viewed as the shutdown aggressors.—
W. James Antle III,
The Washington Examiner,
2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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China began conducting the contentious patrols after a February 2024 accident in which two Chinese fishermen drowned near Kinmen while fleeing from Taiwan’s coast guard.—
Micah McCartney,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
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Appointing James Bunce as performance director, having worked with him before at Monaco, was arguably the best decision of Mitchell’s short — and contentious — tenure.—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pugnacious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pugnacious. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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