What does pugnacious mean?

pugnacious means "tough and callous by virtue of experience". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in pugnacious?

pugnacious has 3 syllables: pug-nac-ious. The stress falls on "nac". In IPA it is /pəɡˈnæʃɪs/.

What is another word for pugnacious?

Close synonyms include hard-bitten, hard-boiled, rough. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is pugnacious a common word?

pugnacious is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

pugnacious — meaning, pronunciation and 2 definitions

adjective

2 sensesA word that describes or qualifies a noun.

1.
tough and callous by virtue of experience
Synonymshard-bitten hard-boiled
Similartough
2.
ready and able to resort to force or violence
“pugnacious spirits...lamented that there was so little prospect of an exhilarating disturbance”
“they were rough and determined fighting men”
Synonymsrough
Similaraggressive

Questions about pugnacious

What does pugnacious mean?: pugnacious means "tough and callous by virtue of experience". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in pugnacious?: pugnacious has 3 syllables: pug-nac-ious. The stress falls on "nac". In IPA it is /pəɡˈnæʃɪs/.
What is another word for pugnacious?: Close synonyms include hard-bitten, hard-boiled, rough. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is pugnacious a common word?: pugnacious is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for pugnacious come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.

adjective

2 sensesA word that describes or qualifies a noun.

1.
tough and callous by virtue of experience
Synonymshard-bitten hard-boiled
Similartough
2.
ready and able to resort to force or violence
“pugnacious spirits...lamented that there was so little prospect of an exhilarating disturbance”
“they were rough and determined fighting men”
Synonymsrough
Similaraggressive

Questions about pugnacious

What does pugnacious mean?: pugnacious means "tough and callous by virtue of experience". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in pugnacious?: pugnacious has 3 syllables: pug-nac-ious. The stress falls on "nac". In IPA it is /pəɡˈnæʃɪs/.
What is another word for pugnacious?: Close synonyms include hard-bitten, hard-boiled, rough. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is pugnacious a common word?: pugnacious is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

Tools

Jump to

Images & video

PDF & writing

Calculate & convert

Health & fitness

AI, code & work

Learn & play

Tool directories

Search

Jump to

Explore AltFTool

Help

Theme

pugnacious

adjective

Questions about pugnacious

Tools

Jump to

Images & video

PDF & writing

Calculate & convert

Health & fitness

AI, code & work

Learn & play

Tool directories

Search

Jump to

Explore AltFTool

Help

Theme

pugnacious

adjective

Questions about pugnacious