fighter
Americannoun
-
a boxer; pugilist.
-
Military. an aircraft designed to seek out and destroy enemy aircraft in the air and to protect bomber aircraft.
-
a person who fights, struggles, resists, etc.
-
a person with the will, courage, determination, ability, or disposition to fight, struggle, resist, etc.
-
an animal, as a dog, trained to fight or having the disposition to fight.
noun
-
a person who fights, esp a professional boxer
-
a person who has determination
-
military an armed aircraft designed for destroying other aircraft
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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."
Vocabulary lists containing fighter
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.
See Examples For:
“Yale will be regarded either as a beacon and a fighter for academic freedom or as the weakling who succumbed and obeyed.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
A Hellenic Air Force F-16 fighter jet has crash-landed at Zakynthos airport, closing one of Greece's busiest summer holiday terminals.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
Trump stood to attention as the "Star Spangled Banner" played and even attempted a greeting in Turkish -- before Turkish fighter jets streaked overhead trailing red, white and blue smoke.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
Discussions about deploying more ground-based long-range missiles and fighter aircraft in place of long-range strategic bombers are currently taking place, Western officials say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
She tells of how a famous Russian pilot and a triple Hero of the Soviet Union, A. I. Pokryshkin, landed at the airfield to refuel his fighter plane.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
In a statement, McMaster said Graham was “irreplaceable,” calling him “the fiercest of fighters for South Carolina and America.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
Under the Obama administration, an international coalition targeting the Libyan regime of Muammar Gaddafi during the country’s 2011 civil war struck his fleeing convoy, leading to his capture and killing by rebel fighters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
Analysts say Platner's rise spoke to a real hunger for fighters who sound less polished, less cautious and less beholden to donors than the candidates national leaders tend to favor.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
Yet, as Ms. Pearsall points out, today “few Americans know about the help they got from the South Asian fighters who drew away British resources.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
He was told that in addition to enemy fighters, about two thousand people lived and fished in the area they’d flown over.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" 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.
