Word of the Day

Sunday, January 15, 2006

pugnacious

\puhg-NAY-shuhs\ , adjective;

Inclined to fight; combative; quarrelsome.

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Quotes:

Roberto's pugnacious grandmother lived across the meadow and would yell threats and curses helplessly from her balcony.

-- Tag Gallagher, The Adventures of Roberto Rossellini

The idea that he was truculent or pugnacious, that he went about with a chip on his shoulder, that he loved fighting for the sake of fighting, was, however, a mistake.

-- William Roscoe Thayer, Theodore Roosevelt: An Intimate Biography

Origin:

Pugnacious comes from Latin pugnare, "to fight," from pugnus, "fist."