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pugnacity

[puhg-ney-shuhs]

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

Related forms

pug·na·cious·ly, adverb

pug·nac·i·ty

[puhg-nas-i-tee] , pug·na·cious·ness, noun

un·pug·na·cious, adjective

un·pug·na·cious·ly, adverb

un·pug·na·cious·ness, noun

Synonyms
argumentative, contentious, bellicose.

Antonyms
agreeable.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

pugnacious (pʌɡˈneɪʃəs)

—*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
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Matching Quote

"The leadership qualities of Franklin Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower deserve special scrutiny because their common and contrasting qualities illumine the nature of "charismatic" leadership in the Presidency. James M Burns, by calling his study of Roosevelt The Lion and the Fox, placed him in the tradition of Machiavellian strategy, and there is little question that Roosevelt used imaginative daring and pugnacity along with the cunning maneuver. Both qualities led him deep into party politics, where he fought the unfaithful ... and smote the heathen without. Eisenhower had less both of the lion and the fox; he was not savage in attack, but usually soft-spoken; and he affected the style of staying outside political involvement and keeping above the party battles.... He understood the deep American impulse toward the belittling of politics, and by seeming to avoid partisanship he could win more converts to his cause than the most partisan leader."

-Max Lerner

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