bare-knuckle

adjective

variants also bare-knuckled or bare-knuckles
Definition of bare-knucklenext
as in gladiatorial

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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 bare-knuckle To this day, his 2019 Aladdin movie still ranks as one of the most rip-roaring live action adaptations of a Disney cartoon while his take on Sherlock Holmes was more of a bare-knuckle bruiser than a debonair detective. — Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026 Kerr, a bare-knuckle boxer and father who was in his 30s, boarded a Jet2 plane from Larnaca in Cyprus on Sunday, June 21, with his girlfriend, the outlets shared. — Adam England, PEOPLE, 25 June 2026 Surviving and thriving during 50 years of bare-knuckle Massachusetts politics is proof of that. — Jon Keller, CBS News, 15 June 2026 The spectacle brought together two bare-knuckle brands that have been intertwined for years, and was symbolic of the pugilistic moment in American politics. — Zac Anderson, USA Today, 14 June 2026 California’s decision to redraw its congressional map to flip as many as five House seats to Democrats in November is poised to play a big and potentially decisive role in the nation’s broader, bare-knuckle fight for control of Congress. — Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2026 For Republicans, despite victories in a bare-knuckle redistricting war, the House already looks lost. — Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 29 May 2026 In the co-main event, fan favorite Nate Diaz battled Mike Perry, of bare-knuckle boxing fame, in a two-round banger filled with far more blood than any display of the jiu-jitsu that propelled Diaz to stardom. — Mark Puleo, New York Times, 17 May 2026 This kind of bare-knuckle politics might explain why so many other GOP leaders are uneasy. — The Orlando Sentinel, 19 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bare-knuckle
  1. gladiatorial
  2. in-your-face
  3. combative
  4. pugnacious
  5. confrontational
  6. take-no-prisoners
  7. belligerent
  8. blood-and-guts
Adjective
  • Erivo plays a British defense barrister who exudes enviable brilliance in navigating the ruthless and gladiatorial London courtrooms.
    — Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 7 July 2026
  • This one has been commemorated by a gladiatorial contest on the White House grounds and by an, apparently coming up, a long speech by the president of the day.
    — David Frum, The Atlantic, 1 July 2026
Definition of gladiatorial
Adjective
  • The annual game, played where the 1989 Kevin Costner movie filmed, has become one of the baseball’s most visually appealing events due to its lack of in-your-face corporatization.
    — Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 13 July 2026
  • But for Wildmon and Buchanan, in-your-face avant-garde art was an insult to the average person, certainly the average American Christian.
    — Louis Menand, New Yorker, 13 July 2026
Definition of in-your-face
Adjective
  • Explanations as to why he was fired have varied widely from the defense minister allegedly being too corrupt, not corrupt enough, too combative with army leadership, too showy, too popular, and too in the clouds on military matters.
    — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 16 July 2026
  • Rather than a cohesive national unit, Americans faced a loose, tense and combative set of state and local interests.
    — Donovan Fifield, The Conversation, 16 July 2026
Definition of combative
Adjective
  • Friends and colleagues contrasted her pugnacious political statements with her personal kindness and good humor.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 July 2026
  • With his pugnacious, buccaneering management style, Gandler was not typical casting for a Disney executive, however.
    — Dade Hayes, Deadline, 9 July 2026
Definition of pugnacious
Adjective
  • Smith had a somewhat confrontational exchange with the two women in the back of his police cruiser that day.
    — Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 8 July 2026
  • Ecuador’s Piero Hincapié became the second player to be issued a red card at the World Cup under FIFA’s new rule that calls for a player to be sent off for covering their mouth during a confrontational exchange with an opponent.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 1 July 2026
Definition of confrontational
Adjective
  • All eight club tracks follow the same basic template, one cribbed from Midwestern producers like Boo Williams and Paul Johnson, as well as early, ravey Daft Punk and, in particular, the take-no-prisoners cutups of Germany’s Soundhack.
    — Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 25 June 2026
  • And Childress got an Earnhardt descendant in Busch — a driver who some considered a villain for his take-no-prisoners style, a father, an all-time great who for the longest time couldn’t win the biggest race of them all.
    — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 6 June 2026
Definition of take-no-prisoners
Adjective
  • The tit-for-tat strikes and increasingly belligerent posture from both sides roiled markets and is threatening to unravel the memorandum of understanding signed last month to end the war.
    — Zac Anderson, USA Today, 8 July 2026
  • America, the world’s oldest, continuous, modern democracy, will soon celebrate its 250th birthday—mired in conflict and piloted by a belligerent and mercurial nationalist.
    — Dominic Erdozain, Time, 3 July 2026
Definition of belligerent
Adjective
  • However, fighters in the UFC seem to get caught up in trying to appease the casuals who can only appreciate blood-and-guts wars.
    — Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 29 Mar. 2026
  • Dawn of the Dead's flood of blood-and-guts is among the most memorable in film history, if only for the unnaturally vivid shades of red.
    — Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Oct. 2025
Definition of blood-and-guts

Browse Nearby Words

barefaced
bare-knuckle
barely
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Cite this Entry

“Bare-knuckle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bare-knuckle. Accessed 17 Jul. 2026.

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