combative

C2+ Topic:War & Conflict

US /kəmˈbætɪv/ UK /ˈkɒmbətɪv/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
ready or eager to fight or argue

He grew combative the moment his honesty was questioned.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · ready or eager to fight or... belligerent aggressive pugnacious quarrelsome contentious bellicose

Opposites

peaceable conciliatory passive placid

Word family

Derived forms combativelycombativeness

Related forms combat combatant battle

Etymology

From combat + -ive, from Old French combatre ('to fight'), from Late Latin combattere, from com- ('with') + battuere ('to beat, strike').

combatre Old French battuere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

War & Conflict Word Formation & Derivatives

# combative

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** kəmˈbætɪv
**IPA (UK):** ˈkɒmbətɪv

## Meanings
1. ready or eager to fight or argue

## Examples
- He grew combative the moment his honesty was questioned.

## Synonyms
- belligerent
- aggressive
- pugnacious
- quarrelsome
- contentious
- bellicose

## Antonyms
- peaceable
- conciliatory
- passive
- placid

## Derived Forms
- combatively
- combativeness

## Related Forms
- combat
- combatant
- battle

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: combatre
- Root: battuere

## Etymology
From combat + -ive, from Old French combatre ('to fight'), from Late Latin combattere, from com- ('with') + battuere ('to beat, strike').

## AI Etymology
Combative is from combat + -ive, from Old French combatre ('to fight'), from Late Latin combattere, from com- ('with') + battuere ('to beat, strike'). Important recorded forms include combatre (Old French) and battuere (Latin). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers ready or eager to fight or argue. The wider family includes derived forms such as combatively and combativeness and related words such as combat, combatant, and battle.

## Topics
- War & Conflict
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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combative

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