How to Use pugnacious in a Sentence

pugnacious

adjective
Definition of pugnaciousnext
Synonyms for pugnaciousnext
  • There's one pugnacious member on the committee who won't agree to anything.
  • The pugnacious chaos of the Trump White House was over.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 24 Aug. 2021
  • And there seemed to be absolutely no one on the flight who was the least bit pugnacious.
    — Ellyn Laub, sun-sentinel.com, 4 Nov. 2021
  • But look out for that slope — which might lead to the Fightin’ Irish and their little, pugnacious guy.
    — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 26 Aug. 2021
  • Provocative and at times pugnacious, Peterson proved to be the man for the moment.
    — Kyle Smith, National Review, 30 Oct. 2019
  • The pugnacious skater’s on-ice DNA is catered perfectly for the frenzied fracas set to play out over the next few weeks.
    — Conor Ryan, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Apr. 2023
  • Gibbs was joined by the great DJ-producer the Alchemist for his pugnacious, heaving set of hard-nosed hip-hop.
    — Elias Leight, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2021
  • Prison became a way of dealing with pugnacious Black youth.
    — Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, The New Yorker, 24 June 2021
  • Christie, who was governor at the time, took a pugnacious approach to the policy fight.
    — Matt Ford, The New Republic, 26 Jan. 2023
  • With new tires on day three, the fresh grip erased three seconds of lap time, putting this pugnacious little hatch ahead of the lighter Veloster N and Elantra N, the latter of which didn't get its new tires in time.
    — Dave Vanderwerp, Car and Driver, 7 Feb. 2023
  • Kaufmann, in his translations, brought to bear a strong, pugnacious style.
    — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2019
  • Flared fenders, pugnacious grille, flat hood, long roof and greenhouse.
    — Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, 2 June 2021
  • Gone is the pugnacious battler carrying around a career full of angst.
    — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 14 July 2023
  • To be sure, the pugnacious poet had his moments of assurance.
    — Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2021
  • That's a quote from Jesse Kelly, a pugnacious right-wing talking head, on Tucker Carlson's show last week.
    — Ross Douthat New York Times, Star Tribune, 30 Mar. 2021
  • But Blackjack wears a pugnacious Holden front end grafted to a C7 cabin that leads to the suggestion of a pickup bed.
    — Ezra Dyer, Popular Mechanics, 19 July 2019
  • Even great whites have been observed with the tell-tale round wounds of a cookie cutter bite, and the pugnacious hunters have been known to disable nuclear submarines.
    — Steven Hill, Field & Stream, 26 July 2023
  • When confronted about his pugnacious on-air style, O’Reilly points out that Wallace’s question is like the pot calling the kettle black.
    — Michael O'Sullivan, Twin Cities, 8 Aug. 2019
  • People who live here take pride in a kind of pugnacious, underdog spirit.
    — Gustavo Arellano, latimes.com, 30 June 2019
  • Now a pugnacious preteen, Harper gets kicked out of the school musical for whaling on a classmate.
    — Time, 24 Aug. 2023
  • At a news conference on the eve of last year’s Masters Tournament, reporters were treated to the last of those looks — a grinning but pugnacious Woods.
    — Photographs By Doug Mills, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2023
  • That meant a matchup with pugnacious Rockets point guard Patrick Beverly, who arrived at the arena with blood in his nostrils.
    — Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 21 Dec. 2021
  • The pugnacious forward scored four goals and racked up 70 hits with Boston during the regular season.
    — Conor Ryan, BostonGlobe.com, 15 May 2023
  • The leader, Frank Manley, is pugnacious 38-year veteran of the criminal courts in his hometown of Flint.
    — John Wisely, Detroit Free Press, 21 Aug. 2019
  • She was known for her pugnacious fights with editors as well as filmmakers.
    — Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2023
  • And as the Olympics approached its end, the political messaging got more pugnacious.
    — Cnn's Beijing Bureau, CNN, 20 Feb. 2022
  • One of them was Andrew Jackson, a pugnacious populist and something of a hotheaded role model for Trump.
    — Star Tribune, 16 Jan. 2021
  • Cruz turns pugnacious and awkward; Chase-Owens loses his mystery and merely drifts, confused, between the two people who disagree about how to help and love him.
    — Helen Shaw, Vulture, 21 Sep. 2021
  • The pugnacious LePage became known both inside Maine and across the country for stirring controversy thanks to his off-the-cuff remarks.
    — Paul Steinhauser, Fox News, 22 Sep. 2021
  • Professor Mundell remained proudly pugnacious to the end of his career.
    — Tom Redburn, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pugnacious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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