ˌpəgˈnāshəs adjective
Etymology: Latin pugnac-, pugnax pugnacious (from pugnare to fight, from pugnus fist) + English -ious — more at pungent
: having a quarrelsome or belligerent nature : thriving on challenge : aggressive , truculent
bushpigs are most courageous and pugnacious animals … capable of putting up a successful fight even against a leopard — James Stevenson-Hamilton
pugnacious spirits … lamented that there was so little prospect of an exhilarating disturbance — Herman Melville
equally pugnacious when it came to fighting for human rights — P.V.D.Stern
not a pugnacious enough mediocrity to earn a larger salary — V.A.Young
• belligerent