variants
also bare-knuckled
or bare-knuckles
as in gladiatorial
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of bare-knuckle
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
As Republicans moved to have state legislatures under their umbrella of control add more favorable seats to the 2026 midterm maps in Texas, Ohio and Indiana, Newsom matched the bare-knuckle approach with a new version of California's congressional maps that would eliminate five GOP-leaning seats.
—Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 24 Aug. 2025
His best bare-knuckle performance came in a 2024 win over ex-Bellator champion Daniel Straus.
—Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bare-knuckle
Justin Kroll, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2025
And to go bare-knuckle with the Chargers.
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 7 Sep. 2025
As Republicans moved to have state legislatures under their umbrella of control add more favorable seats to the 2026 midterm maps in Texas, Ohio and Indiana, Newsom matched the bare-knuckle approach with a new version of California's congressional maps that would eliminate five GOP-leaning seats.
—Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 24 Aug. 2025
His best bare-knuckle performance came in a 2024 win over ex-Bellator champion Daniel Straus.
—Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bare-knuckle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bare-knuckle
- gladiatorial
- in-your-face
- combative
- pugnacious
- confrontational
- take-no-prisoners
- belligerent
- blood-and-guts
Adjective
-
At the conference, Farage appeared onstage in a blaze of pyrotechnics and gladiatorial chords.—
Sam Knight,
New Yorker,
21 Sep. 2025
-
Under his rule, the teens are pitted against each other (and other supes) in gladiatorial-style combat.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
19 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Casting black actors as Anglo-Saxon nobles is only the most in-your-face example of this problem.—
Will Collins,
The Washington Examiner,
19 Sep. 2025
-
The Phoebe dress is a low-key, not-too-in-your-face brown animal print dress that has fluttery sleeves and and a drawstring detail that makes this piece feel and look more casual.—
Gina Vaynshteyn,
StyleCaster,
16 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
In mythology, Mars is the god of war, known for its fierce and combative nature, and this is no exception in astrology.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
22 Sep. 2025
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Darcy said that when a person is resisting officers, their knowledge of the person having pre-existing medical conditions is not enough to prevent them from restraining someone combative.—
Kendrick Calfee,
Kansas City Star,
21 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Then Martinez, famously one of the commission’s most pugnacious members, decided to share a response.—
Douglas Hanks,
Miami Herald,
15 Sep. 2025
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These involve stand-up comedians, pugnacious composers, and whether or not Paula Pell will get her moment in the spotlight.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Despite his confrontational reputation, Biglari notably avoids media coverage and has not in recent years participated in interviews.—
Lily Mae Lazarus,
Fortune,
18 Sep. 2025
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His confrontational style inspired a generation of young conservatives to assertively defend their values and to mock liberals, even in sometimes incendiary ways.—
Phillip M. Bailey,
USA Today,
18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Directed by genre-hopping Ben Wheatley and written by John Wick creator Derek Kolstad from a story hatched by Kolstad and Odenkirk, the subversive Western is a take-no-prisoners gore fest that peppers all the visceral carnage with an equal sprinkling of dry wit.—
Michael Rechtshaffen,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Sep. 2025
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Nothing about Francis Lawrence’s take-no-prisoners adaptation of Richard Bachman’s (aka Stephen King) staggering novel offers one shard of hope for any of us to wrap our bloodied fingers around.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Second, having quickly been identified by internet bloodhounds, the actual offending Polish paving magnate issued a belligerent non-apology.—
NEAL RUBIN,
Freep.com,
10 Sep. 2025
-
Medvedev, a former president of Russia and an ally of incumbent President Vladimir Putin, has been known to make belligerent comments against the West, which have likely been approved by the Kremlin.—
Brendan Cole,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Still, these sections lack the blood-and-guts tension of her interactions with her mother.—
Madeline Leung Coleman,
Vulture,
27 Aug. 2025
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That realization elevates the film’s campy blood-and-guts from gore to gut-punch.—
Gráinne O'Hara Belluomo,
WWD,
1 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Bare-knuckle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bare-knuckle. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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