ISEE/SSAT Vocabulary BuilderWordsPpugnacious
ISEE/SSAThard
pugnacious
Meaning: eager or quick to argue, quarrel, or fight
pugnacious in a sentence
How pugnacious is used in real sentences:
The pugnacious senator treated every question as a challenge.
His pugnacious remarks turned a calm debate into a bitter dispute.
“Rusk arrived first, pugnacious and ready to challenge every bearing, and the conversation soon became acrimonious when Harrow questioned his ownership.”
— from the passage The Marker on the Slope
Synonyms for pugnacious
Other words for pugnacious — combative, belligerent and quarrelsome — carry the same meaning.
- combative
- belligerent
- quarrelsome
Antonyms of pugnacious
Words that mean the opposite of pugnacious:
- peaceable
- conciliatory
- amiable
Where it comes from
From Latin pugnax, meaning 'fond of fighting.'
Memory hook
PUGNACIOUS begins like 'pug': picture a small dog eager to pick a fight.
Practice pugnacious in the app