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
Explanation
Someone combative likes to fight, whether with fists or words. See the word combat in combative? That's a clue to this word's meaning. Since combat is a type of fighting — usually in war — anyone described as combative likes to fight or just can't help getting in fights. A frequent barroom brawler is combative, but so is someone who is always starting arguments. Using swear words and constantly contradicting people could be considered combative behavior. People who are combative are also often described as hostile, angry, or pugnacious.
Vocabulary lists containing combative
All My Sons
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Dragon Hoops
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"The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century," Vocabulary from Chapter 12
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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.
He also gave combative interviews to public service TV and radio, which have largely ignored or attacked him for the past two years.
From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026
James Taranto, who edits those pages, responded with a combative piece.
From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026
That heritage gave both him and the backcountry settlers he epitomized their combative sense of equality and dignity—rooted in the history of British impositions on their ancestral lands in Ulster.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026
He campaigned alongside the RSP president, combative television host Rabi Lamichhane, 51, a former deputy prime minister and interior minister and now a fellow lawmaker who retains a pivotal role in power.
From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026
Because they were not hurt or insulted, they were not defensive or combative.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
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.
