combative
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does combative mean? Combative means inclined to fight or prone to being argumentative.It’s especially used to describe someone who has become defensive and is disputing things in a belligerent way. It’s not commonly applied to someone who’s prone to starting physical fights.It can also be used to describe situations in which someone or multiple people are acting this way, such as a combative press conference or a combative meeting. The word combatant is commonly used as a noun meaning one of the sides engaged in a fight, but it can also be used as an adjective meaning the same thing as combative.Example: The senator became combative when faced with some tough questions during the town hall meeting.
Other Word Forms
- combatively adverb
- combativeness noun
- combativity noun
- uncombative adjective
Etymology
Origin of combative
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.
Durant appeared nonplussed by the spat, while admitting that he had deliberately taken a combative approach into the game.
From Barron's
Throughout his medical records, I can see glimpses of who my dad is, who he’s always been—a complex soul who can be both affable and combative, cooperative and recalcitrant, depending on his mood.
From Salon
“After having knocked thousands of doors across the state, talking about really combative issues, it’s clear that people have a plurality of opinions and thoughts,” Behn said.
From Salon
In contrast to the combative captain on the field, Bonds was a private family man away from it.
From BBC
Except when the air force uses the combative kinetic security approach, details of the circumstances under which hostages are released are rare.
From Barron's
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.
