as in aggressive
feeling or displaying eagerness to fight
a movie reviewer who is spirited, even pugnacious, when defending her opinions
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pugnacious
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
The web of secrets and confessions, schemes and counterplots, short-term pleasures and far-reaching decisions, are couched in dialogue that is pugnacious, vulnerable, comedic, and sometimes richly poetic, and which feels as spontaneous as it is carefully crafted.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2025
The Godfather director steals the show here as an energetic, pugnacious and visionary circus ringleader who put his money where his mouth was for a project that wound up flopping critically and commercially.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
Some Democrats may thrill each time Newsom delivers one of his pugnacious pronouncements.
—Mark Barabak, Mercury News, 19 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for pugnacious
Joe Reid, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2025
The web of secrets and confessions, schemes and counterplots, short-term pleasures and far-reaching decisions, are couched in dialogue that is pugnacious, vulnerable, comedic, and sometimes richly poetic, and which feels as spontaneous as it is carefully crafted.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2025
The Godfather director steals the show here as an energetic, pugnacious and visionary circus ringleader who put his money where his mouth was for a project that wound up flopping critically and commercially.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
Some Democrats may thrill each time Newsom delivers one of his pugnacious pronouncements.
—Mark Barabak, Mercury News, 19 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for pugnacious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pugnacious
Adjective
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The Dallas Cowboys and team owner Jerry Jones have been very interested in the idea of getting aggressive ahead of the upcoming NFL trade deadline.—
Evan Massey,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Oct. 2025
-
Unlike their alligator cousins, which are known to occasionally attack people, American crocodiles are shyer and less aggressive.—
David Goodhue,
Miami Herald,
26 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Israel says the militant group can access the remains of most of the hostages.—
Maayan Lubell,
USA Today,
28 Oct. 2025
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Israel launched its war on Hamas after the October 7, 2023, terror attacks in which the militant group and its allies killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostages to Gaza.—
Oren Liebermann,
CNN Money,
28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Heading into a hostile environment at the Rogers Centre, the Dodgers must defeat the Toronto Blue Jays in Games 6 and 7 to clinch their second-straight World Series title.—
Jackson Roberts,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
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Plot details are very hazy, but the word on the street is that the story centers on a ne’er-do-well smuggler who finds himself in the middle of a deadly double-cross while on a job in the Caribbean Sea, resulting in him surrounded by bodies, hostile mercenaries and thirsty sharks alike.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Sia's contentious divorce just reached a whole new level of acrimony.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Oct. 2025
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Before the vote, Mueller engaged in a contentious exchange with Canepa over the appointment route.—
Ryan Macasero,
Mercury News,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pugnacious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pugnacious. Accessed 2 Nov. 2025.
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