as in aggressive
feeling or displaying eagerness to fight
a movie reviewer who is spirited, even pugnacious, when defending her opinions
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pugnacious
Even aside from Trump’s own enthusiastic personal immorality and impiety, his political style — the pugnacious smear artist and demagogic braggart — was the antithesis of what evangelicals had sought before.
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Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 23 Sep. 2025
Then Martinez, famously one of the commission’s most pugnacious members, decided to share a response.
—Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 15 Sep. 2025
The web of secrets and confessions, schemes and counterplots, short-term pleasures and far-reaching decisions, are couched in dialogue that is pugnacious, vulnerable, comedic, and sometimes richly poetic, and which feels as spontaneous as it is carefully crafted.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2025
The Godfather director steals the show here as an energetic, pugnacious and visionary circus ringleader who put his money where his mouth was for a project that wound up flopping critically and commercially.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pugnacious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pugnacious
Adjective
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That’s the kind of chance that last season, a more aggressive-looking Stolarz would have used his frame — and frankly, his big-game presence — to turn away with ease.—
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The agency has also faced criticism for aggressive tactics used by ICE agents in executing the president’s immigration policy.—
Adjective
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Israel and the Lebanese militant group exchanged fire for over a year before reaching a ceasefire in November 2024.—
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Iran has been plagued for years by staggering hyperinflation, fueled by Western sanctions imposed over the hardline clerical government's nuclear program and backing for militant groups across the region.—
Adjective
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Skepticism came easily to Trump, who had long been hostile to mainstream foreign policy.—
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The helicopter the pilot was flying — a heavy, twin-rotor MH-47 Chinook — was struck by hostile fire during the operation.—
Adjective
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This sparked a contentious debate about whether our species originally emerged outside of Africa, before returning there.—
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His resignation comes after last month's trial in which inflammatory texts Phelps sent during contentious revenue-sharing negotiations were revealed.—
Cite this Entry
“Pugnacious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pugnacious. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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