Synonyms of quarrelsome

quarrelsome

adjective

ˈkwȯr(-ə)l-səm 

1

as in aggressive

feeling or displaying eagerness to fight

a quarrelsome student who was always being sent to the principal's office for starting fights in the halls

Synonyms & Similar Words

• aggressive
• militant
• hostile
• contentious
• irritable
• belligerent
• combative
• warlike
• pugnacious
• assaultive
• confrontational
• bellicose
• feisty
• ugly
• truculent
• disputatious
• argumentative
• acidic
• fierce
• agonistic
• savage
• vicious
• scrappy
• rude
• chippy
• discordant
• gladiatorial
• antagonistic
• on the warpath
• brawly
• irascible
• peevish
• fretful
• fighting
• disagreeable
• querulous
• fractious
• warring
• hot-tempered
• ornery
• petulant
• snappish
• testy
• cross
• choleric
• dyspeptic
• pettish
• grouchy
• surly
• bilious
• grumpy
• ill-tempered
• waspish
• crabby
• bristly
• ill-natured
• cranky
• touchy
• stroppy
• battling
• huffy
• ill-humored
• prickly
• bearish
• snappy

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• peaceable
• peaceful
• nonaggressive
• pacific
• amiable
• unwarlike
• pleasant
• friendly
• cordial
• conciliatory
• benevolent
• good-natured
• sociable
• genial
• nonbelligerent
• easygoing
• amicable
• gracious
• affable
• complaisant
• uncontentious
• kindhearted
• quiet
• calm
• ingratiating
• obliging
• uncombative
• unbelligerent
• good-tempered
• mild
• serene
• gentle
• tranquil
• antimilitarist
• benign
• relaxed
• anti-imperialist
• kindly

2

as in contentious

given to arguing

you're so quarrelsome: you can never do anything without a fuss

Synonyms & Similar Words

• contentious
• controversial
• polemical
• aggressive
• stubborn
• irritable
• militant
• argumentative
• disputatious
• unreasonable
• scrappy
• belligerent
• combative
• warlike
• pugnacious
• willful
• bellicose
• rude
• fractious
• truculent
• fighting
• feisty
• ornery
• resistant
• contrary
• surly
• disobedient
• disagreeable
• insubordinate
• obstinate
• irascible
• restive
• uncooperative
• peevish
• wayward
• acidic
• cantankerous
• fretful
• recalcitrant
• querulous
• intractable
• warring
• gladiatorial
• headstrong
• captious
• petulant
• refractory
• snappish
• testy
• balky
• choleric
• dyspeptic
• obdurate
• pettish
• battling
• cross
• grouchy
• bilious
• mulish
• grumpy
• splenetic
• unbending
• ill-tempered
• waspish
• perverse
• uncompromising
• crabby
• self-willed
• pigheaded
• ill-natured
• cranky
• touchy
• hardheaded
• froward
• huffy
• unyielding
• ill-humored
• self-opinionated
• bearish
• snappy

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• amiable
• pleasant
• friendly
• cordial
• benevolent
• cooperative
• good-natured
• sociable
• genial
• gracious
• amicable
• easygoing
• affable
• agreeable
• conciliatory
• ingratiating
• amenable
• complaisant
• good-tempered
• complying
• compliant
• acquiescent
• obedient
• docile
• submissive
• tractable
• peaceable
• peaceful
• obliging
• pacific

Synonym Chooser

How is the word quarrelsome distinct from other similar adjectives?

Some common synonyms of quarrelsome are bellicose, belligerent, contentious, and pugnacious. While all these words mean "having an aggressive or fighting attitude," quarrelsome stresses an ill-natured readiness to fight without good cause.

the heat made us all quarrelsome

When might bellicose be a better fit than quarrelsome?

The words bellicose and quarrelsome can be used in similar contexts, but bellicose suggests a disposition to fight.

a drunk in a bellicose mood

In what contexts can belligerent take the place of quarrelsome?

Although the words belligerent and quarrelsome have much in common, belligerent often implies being actually at war or engaged in hostilities.

belligerent nations

When is it sensible to use contentious instead of quarrelsome?

While the synonyms contentious and quarrelsome are close in meaning, contentious implies perverse and irritating fondness for arguing and quarreling.

wearied by his contentious disposition

When can pugnacious be used instead of quarrelsome?

In some situations, the words pugnacious and quarrelsome are roughly equivalent. However, pugnacious suggests a disposition that takes pleasure in personal combat.

a pugnacious gangster

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of quarrelsome

The toys, like the perpetually quarrelsome Woody and Buzz or Jessie the cowgirl, who now takes center stage, have seen their boy and girl owners grow up and leave them behind. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 16 June 2026

The only thing that puts wind in The Disappear’s heavy sails is the real people attempting to give some sense of depth, breadth, and humor to the near-caricatures on stage — especially the play’s quarrelsome leads. — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 19 Jan. 2026

And what’s most important — indeed the principal reason for protecting the existence of a noisy, quarrelsome, factious, muckraking free press in our republic — is accountability. — Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 23 Dec. 2025

He’s installed a pair of Brits, Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman, as the quarrelsome couple, and there are no two finer actors to take on the tangle of insults penned by Tony McNamara, who wrote the screenplay. — Katie Walsh, Chicago Tribune, 27 Aug. 2025