combative
/ˈkɒm.bə.tɪv//kəmˈbæ.tɪv/
combative adjective: given to fighting; disposed to engage in combat; pugnacious.
Adjective
combative (comparative more combative, superlative most combative)
- Given to fighting; disposed to engage in combat; pugnacious.
- Their combative conduct leads to many problems.
- He finds, not “demigods” but “a combative group of exhausted, drunken, broken, petty, partisan, scheming, squabbling, bloviating, sensory-deprived, underoxygenated, fed-up, talked-out, overheated delegates so distraught they threatened violence, secession.2013, The Ultimate Daily Show and Philosophy
- Synonyms:
- aggressive, antagonistic, assaultive, bellicose, belligerent, martial, militaristic, philopolemic, philopolemical, pugnacious
combative meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
combative in Tamil
- எதிர்ப்புச் செய்கிற, சண்டைக்குணமுள்ள, போர் மனப்பான்மையுடைய
combative in Urdu
- لڑائی پر درپے
combative in Bengali
- লড়াকু, মারমুখী
combative in Malayalam
- antagonistic, pugnacious, aggressive
- യുദ്ധോത്സുകതയുള്ള, രണോത്സുകനായ, അക്രമോത്സുകമായ, ആക്രമണസന്നദ്ധമായ, വഴക്കുണ്ടാക്കുന്ന, അക്രമപരം
Examples of combative in a sentence
- Despite leadership errors and fewer men, the German army displayed unexpected combative spirit.
- But the virus has pushed their combative tactics to the centre of Beijing’s foreign policy approach.
- England’s combative coach . . . wants aggression, a touch of the outlaw, a mean streak.
Synonyms of combative
- aggressive
- antagonistic
- assaultive
- bellicose
- belligerent
- martial
- militaristic
- philopolemic
- philopolemical
- pugnacious
3 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
- calm
- conflict-free
- dovish
- nonaggressive
- nonbellicose
- nonbelligerent
- noncombative
- nonmartial
- nonmilitaristic
- nonviolent
10 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of combative
| comparative | more combative |
|---|---|
| superlative | most combative |
Origin of combative
From combat + -ive.
Words formed from combative
Questions about combative
- What does combative mean?
- Combative means given to fighting; disposed to engage in combat; pugnacious.
- What is combative in Tamil?
- Combative in Tamil is எதிர்ப்புச் செய்கிற, சண்டைக்குணமுள்ள, போர் மனப்பான்மையுடைய. See Combative meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is combative?
- Combative is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce combative?
- Combative is pronounced /ˈkɒm.bə.tɪv/ (UK).
Words near combative in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: combative (page history and authors); combative (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); combative (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Combative (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); combative (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-combative.wav, en-us-combative.ogg.
Cite this entry: “combative.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/combative. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.