variants
also bare-knuckled
or bare-knuckles
as in gladiatorial
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bare-knuckle
Adjective
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In the Nineties, McLachlan’s style of emotive pop nestled alongside grunge and West Coast hip-hop on the charts, providing a comforting alternative to far more in-your-face music.—
David Browne,
Rolling Stone,
26 June 2025 -
From the thundering beats to the infectious energy of the crowd, every moment served as an in-your-face reminder that music shapes, inspires, and unites.—
Ali Lerman,
Los Angeles Times,
23 June 2025
Adjective
-
Johnson told me that many of his patients are now skeptical of his advice, if not openly combative.—
Benjamin Mazer,
The Atlantic,
17 June 2025
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Opening the doors for real, meaningful interactions will be essential for both sides to gain a clearer and more complete understanding of one another, ensuring a less combative future.—
Zichen Wang,
semafor.com,
16 June 2025
Adjective
-
That would be offering leaks to Above the Law, a pugnacious legal industry website best known for scoops about law firm annual bonuses, snarky coverage of legal news and salacious stories of barristers behaving badly.—
Elizabeth Williamson,
New York Times,
18 May 2025
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Expect more extraterrestrial viruses, gobs of green goo, pugnacious parasites, ailing hybrid creatures, and the controversial prospect of a new mind control therapy.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
17 May 2025
Adjective
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But Groff’s take-no-prisoners performance as nightclub superstar Bobby Darin is pure Broadway, and thoroughly – and more than justifiably – winning.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
6 June 2025
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Harrison confidently adopts the take-no-prisoners physicality that makes Zephyr a worthy foe for Tucker, but her line readings are bland, doing nothing to enliven the basic script by Nick Lepard.—
Esther Zuckerman,
IndieWire,
17 May 2025
Adjective
-
European powers had withdrawn the crew’s belligerent status, and the new American president, Andrew Johnson, had excluded them from the general amnesty offered to Confederate soldiers.—
Francine Uenuma,
Smithsonian Magazine,
23 June 2025
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On Tuesday, Trump adopted his most belligerent stance yet on Iran in a series of social media posts.—
Niall Stanage,
The Hill,
17 June 2025
Adjective
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Though Hunt Wynorski’s (Nick Zano) actual death happens off-screen, his pained panic at being trapped underwater by the suction pull of a public pool’s drain is an agonizing sequence, culminating in the gnarly visual of a blood-and-guts fountain.—
Gayle Sequeira,
Vulture,
16 May 2025
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This is a blood-and-guts medical-show model, in which everything teeters on the brink of catastrophe at all times and the doctors are adrenaline junkies approximately one shift away from a complete mental breakdown.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
3 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The Islamic State militant group (ISIS) operates both east and west of Iran and has also stepped up operations within the Islamic Republic itself, having claimed the deadliest operation in the nation's post-revolutionary history in January 2024.—
Tom O'Connor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 June 2025
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Bondi also shared that over 1,000 Iranian nationals have entered the country illegally in recent years and said law enforcement agencies are actively investigating them for possible ties to foreign militant groups.—
Elaine Mallon,
The Washington Examiner,
24 June 2025
Adjective
-
Trump frequently used similarly bellicose rhetoric at various times during his first term.—
Brett Samuels,
The Hill,
13 June 2025
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Courtesy of Derek Ouellette Trump's bellicose remarks gave a huge boost to Canadian nationalism, with many vowing to boycott the U.S. and its products.—
Chantal Da Silva,
NBC news,
1 May 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Bare-knuckle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bare-knuckle. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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