pugnacious

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   ready and able to resort to force or violence

   The troops were well rested and quite pugnacious.

2. 2
   adj

   tough and callous by virtue of experience

   The laborers were pugnacious after years of hard work.

3. 3
   adj

   naturally aggressive, hostile or combative

   The general was pugnacious and it suited their work in wartime.

Simplified etymology

Pugnacious, recorded from the mid-17th century, comes through Latin pugnare “to fight” from Latin pugnus “fist.”

From the stem of Latin pugnāx + -ous, from pugnō (“to fight”), from pugnus (“fist”).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary