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

The line was drawn up under the 1953 armistice that stopped the fighting of the Korean War, and some decades-old boundary markers have been lost over time. — Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026

The Persian Gulf has long suffered from oil pollution, but research by Barnes and other scientists comparing March 2026, when fighting was intense, with the same period last year shows a sharp increase. — Paula Hancocks, CNN Money, 23 Oct. 2026

Returning to the table, Walzer said that a legal scholar had recently used the jus ex bello doctrine in an op-ed to argue that the war had become so costly to Ukrainians that their government was now obliged to make concessions to stop the fighting. — Jordi Graupera, New Yorker, 22 Oct. 2026

Analysts attributed elevated gas prices to ongoing fighting in the Middle East, which has damaged oil infrastructure and forced firms to take up costly means of transporting crude. — ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026

On thinner material, that gives you a fighting chance at keeping heat and warpage under control without crawling along at a miserable pace. — New Atlas, 22 Oct. 2026

In 2018, Lewis entered a guilty plea to disorderly conduct involving fighting and was again sentenced to probation. — Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2026

The fighting now threatens to draw in Turkey and Pakistan to support Saudi Arabia, as the three countries recently signed a mutual security pact known as the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement. — Ali Vaez, Time, 21 Oct. 2026

Russian prosecutors accused him of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine. — Violet Jira, Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2026

Verb

Rather than fighting strict local regulations head-on, companies like Waymo, Zoox, and Aurora are prioritizing states with explicit legislative preemption that prevents individual cities from banning the technology. — Andrew Hawkins, The Verge, 18 Oct. 2026

The procedure had already been approved, and everyone involved understood that my doctor had spent months fighting to secure authorization. — Scott Levenson, New York Daily News, 18 Oct. 2026

Advocacy groups are fighting to unseal the OLC’s memo justifying the deadly boat strikes in international waters. — Perry Stein, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2026

The rebels urged their forces to continue fighting and called on Tigrayans to support them. — Arkansas Online, 17 Oct. 2026

Uthmeier, in addition to being the governor’s right hand, chaired Keep Florida Clean, a political committee fighting to squash Amendment 3, which would have legalized marijuana. — Christopher Spata, Miami Herald, 17 Oct. 2026

For over 20 years, Erika Lust has been fighting against those preconceptions, creating adult content that expands the parameters of pornography while approaching it as something akin to mainstream independent cinema. — Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2026

The Atto 8 proves BYD is capable of fighting at the premium tier, and with that charging speed, creates a benchmark to force every other automaker to accelerate their own technological timelines. — New Atlas, 17 Oct. 2026

More than 8,000 of his employees are fighting Russian forces. — Kamal Ahmed, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2026