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Synonyms

fighter

American  
[fahy-ter] / ˈfaɪ tər /

noun

  1. a boxer; pugilist.

  2. Military. an aircraft designed to seek out and destroy enemy aircraft in the air and to protect bomber aircraft.

  3. a person who fights, struggles, resists, etc.

  4. a person with the will, courage, determination, ability, or disposition to fight, struggle, resist, etc.

  5. an animal, as a dog, trained to fight or having the disposition to fight.

fighter British  
/ ˈfaɪtə /

noun

  1. a person who fights, esp a professional boxer

  2. a person who has determination

  3. military an armed aircraft designed for destroying other aircraft

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of fighter

before 1000; Middle English; Old English fēohtere. See fight, -er 1

Explanation

Someone who battles or brawls with other people is a fighter. Some fighters, like boxers, do it professionally, while others just have a tendency to fight. If you have a habit of getting into scuffles or fistfights, you're a fighter, and when you watch a boxing match, you might pick one of the two fighters to root for. An animal might also be described as a fighter: lions are natural fighters, and a fish struggling hard on the end of a hook is a fighter. Other fighters work heroically for a belief or ideal: "She was a fighter in the struggle for civil rights."

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

And in late April the Ukrainians struck several Russian fighter jets and bombers more than 1,000 miles beyond the border, among other strikes on military targets deep within enemy territory.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

Safar is a former Sydney nursing student who travelled to Syria in 2015 and reportedly married an IS fighter.

From BBC • May 7, 2026

GE Aerospace’s new XA102 External link is vying to power the Air Force’s F-47 sixth-generation fighter jet.

From Barron's • May 7, 2026

The aircraft carrier has around 20 Rafale fighter jets and is escorted by several frigates.

From Barron's • May 6, 2026

It was a lot simpler than the MiG fighter jet Gagarin was used to flying, and that was by design—he wasn’t supposed to touch the controls.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.