combative
[kuh m-bat-iv, kom-buh-tiv, kuhm-]
- ready or inclined to fight; pugnacious: He displayed a most unpleasant, combative attitude.
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Origin of combative
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for combative
Contemporary Examples
“I think if you get combative and overly objecting, people are going to begin to get suspicious,” Edwards told me.
When Sara took her case before a panel of faculty members, she said she found them combative and insensitive.
As Gondry asks Chomsky about his childhood, the answer soon becomes clear: a skeptical, inquisitive, combative mind.
Like Socrates, Street Epistemologists are to understand themselves as inquisitive teachers, not combative lecturers.
Atheist Philosopher Peter Boghossian’s Guide to Converting BelieversMichael Schulson
November 2, 2013
Lubetsky explained that students who found Cruz combative may have simply been seeing what made Cruz so successful as a debater.
Ted Cruz at Princeton: Creepy, Sometimes Well Liked, and Exactly the SamePatricia Murphy
August 19, 2013
Historical Examples
Mrs. Tidditt, diminutive but combative, offered a suggestion.
Fair HarborJoseph Crosby Lincoln
“And another reason why I like you is because you are combative,” he said thoughtfully.
Adam Johnstone's SonF. Marion Crawford
Something in his tone roused a combative instinct in his companion.
Marriage la modeMrs. Humphry Ward
They made many mistakes; they were combative, often difficult to deal with.
Victorian WorthiesGeorge Henry Blore
For Mr. Adams was by nature not only independent, but resentful and combative.
John Quincy AdamsJohn. T. Morse
combative
- eager or ready to fight, argue, etc; aggressive
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for combative
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper