as in boxer
one that engages in the sport of fighting with the fists
a pugilist with the trademark of the boxing ring: a nose that showed signs of having been broken on more than one occasion
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pugilist
He was swept up in the swirl of decade-defining events surrounding Muhammad Ali as well as Joe Frazier and other high-wattage pugilists of the 1970s.
—
Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 22 Mar. 2025
Eriksen can be a skilled on-ball creator but is more poet than pugilist when competing for loose balls.
—Carl Anka, The Athletic, 17 Mar. 2025
The 6-1 fighter is not your typical young pugilist.
—Tony Paige, New York Daily News, 16 Mar. 2025
The true-life sports biopic unleashes Leo as Alice, the loud, over-the-top matriarch of a large Boston family and manager mom to Micky Ward, a championship boxing contender trained by his drug-addict pugilist half-brother Dicky.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pugilist
Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 22 Mar. 2025
Eriksen can be a skilled on-ball creator but is more poet than pugilist when competing for loose balls.
—Carl Anka, The Athletic, 17 Mar. 2025
The 6-1 fighter is not your typical young pugilist.
—Tony Paige, New York Daily News, 16 Mar. 2025
The true-life sports biopic unleashes Leo as Alice, the loud, over-the-top matriarch of a large Boston family and manager mom to Micky Ward, a championship boxing contender trained by his drug-addict pugilist half-brother Dicky.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pugilist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pugilist
Noun
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Mexican boxing legend Canelo, the undisputed super middleweight champion, is up against undefeated Crawford, one of the most accomplished American boxers in the modern era.—
Monica Mercuri,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
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Related to that is what the boxing figure describes as a change in how boxers are valued commercially.—
Sarah Shephard,
New York Times,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The Polish air force scrambled its own F-16 fighter jets, and the Royal Netherlands Air Force sent two F-35 fighters that were stationed in Poland.—
George Petras,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
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Jenkins, a former Brevard County school board member and speech pathologist, released a launch video casting herself as a fighter for working families, drawing on her own experience working multiple jobs to make ends meet.—
Samantha-Jo Roth,
The Washington Examiner,
10 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pugilist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pugilist. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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