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.

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

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