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
Derived Forms
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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Hurricane Child
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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.
But she delivered a typically combative performance that will intensify questions over a potential return to singles action at Wimbledon, which starts later in June.
From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026
Their name is an anagram of the phrase "I'm Fearless", and those early songs channelled the girl group trope of combative, bulletproof confidence.
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026
Dolan, the combative billionaire owner who has overseen the team since 1999, had failed repeatedly and spectacularly to construct a champion.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026
But a new report from the Washington Post quantifies what many people have sensed: Trump’s use of profanity, insults and combative language has grown much worse since his return to power in January 2025.
From Salon • May 26, 2026
But I had a striking sense that if I’d had a son, he would, at the core, be a lot like this brainy, combative oddball sitting in a musty apartment in a small Idaho town.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
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.
