truculent

[ truhk-yuh-luhnt, troo-kyuh- ]

/ ˈtrʌk yə lənt, ˈtru kyə- /

adjective

fierce; cruel; savagely brutal.

brutally harsh; vitriolic; scathing: his truculent criticism of her work.

aggressively hostile; belligerent.

Nearby words

truckle bed, truckline, truckload, truckman, truckstop, truculent, truculently, trudeau, trudeau, pierre elliott, trudeaumania, trudge

Origin of truculent

1530–40; < Latin truculentus, equivalent to truc-, stem of trux savage, pitiless + -ulentus -ulent

SYNONYMS FOR truculent

1 See fierce.

ANTONYMS FOR truculent

1 amiable, gentle.

Related formstruc·u·lence, truc·u·len·cy, nountruc·u·lent·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for truculently

Ultimately, truculently, first one and then another angrily agreed.
Pariah Planet|Murray Leinster
"Then ye are a bigger fool than I had expected sorr, to come back here at all," said the Irishman truculently.
Bucky O'Connor|William MacLeod Raine
I know my rights and the law, said the young man quite as truculently as before.
Ruth Fielding In the Saddle|Alice B. Emerson
This he appropriated, and there, regardless of surprised looks from ex-ministers at adjoining table, he truculently dined.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 105, August 12th 1893|Various

The second lad had found his tongue by this time and he elected to use it truculently.
A Pagan of the Hills|Charles Neville Buck

British Dictionary definitions for truculently

truculent

/ (ˈtrʌkjʊlənt) /

adjective

defiantly aggressive, sullen, or obstreperous

archaic savage, fierce, or harsh

Derived Formstruculence or truculency, nountruculently, adverb

Word Origin for truculent

C16: from Latin truculentus, from trux fierce

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for truculently

truculent

adj.

1540s, from Latin truculentus "fierce, savage," from trux (genitive trucis) "fierce, wild."