pugnacious
Use Pugnacious in a sentence
ʃəs adjective
inclined to quarrel or fight readily; quarrelsome; belligerent; combative.
Origin:
1635–45; pugnaci(ty) (< Latin pugnācitās combativeness, equivalent to pugnāci-, stem of pugnāx combative (akin to pugil; see pugilism) + -tās -ty2) + -ous
1635–45; pugnaci(ty) (< Latin pugnācitās combativeness, equivalent to pugnāci-, stem of pugnāx combative (akin to pugil; see pugilism) + -tās -ty2) + -ous
Related forms
pug·na·cious·ly, adverb
un·pug·na·cious, adjective
un·pug·na·cious·ly, adverb
un·pug·na·cious·ness, noun
Synonyms
argumentative, contentious, bellicose.
argumentative, contentious, bellicose.
Antonyms
agreeable.
agreeable.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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|
Link To pugnacious
00:10
Pugnacious
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
pugnacious (pʌɡˈneɪʃəs) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| readily disposed to fight; belligerent | |
| [C17: from Latin pugnāx] | |
| pug'naciously | |
| —adv | |
| pugnacity | |
| —n | |
| pug'naciousness | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
pugnacious
1642, from L. pugnacis, gen. of pugnax "combative," from pugnare "to fight," from pugnus "fist," from PIE base *peug- "to stick, stab" (cf. Gk. pyx "with clenched fist," pygme "fist, boxing," pyktes "boxer;" L. pungere "to pierce, prick").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Thirdly, docile animals within a species group are normally selected over pugnacious fellow-members.
Because of their highly predaceous and pugnacious nature they are one of the easiest fish to catch.
When he got serious, she imagined he was pugnacious, and tried to egg him on to an open quarrel.
The pugnacious males often build nests, almost touching adjoining nests.
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