Word.ws English Dictionary

fisticuffs

Syllables: fis·ti·cuffsUK/ˈfɪs.tɪ.kʌfs//ˈfɪs.tɪˌkəfs/

fisticuffs noun: an impromptu fight with the fists, usually between only two people. Also the plural of fisticuff.

Noun

fisticuffs pl (plural only)

  1. (informal, plural, plural-only) An impromptu fight with the fists, usually between only two people.
    • So he obſerves that all ſimple Governments are apt to ſome evil that is peculiar and conſequential to their Nature, as he inſtanceth in a Kingdom changed into Monarchy abſolute, by which he means that which we now call Tyranny; Ariſtocracy into Oligarchy, and Democracy into Beſtial Chirocracy, when...1686, Nathaniel Johnston, “III: That the People are not the Original of Authority and Government”, in The Excellency of Monarchical Government, Eſpecially of the Engliſh Monarchy […] , London: T. B....
    • People who share a cell in the Basti[l]le […] if they do not immediately fall to fisticuffs, will find some possible ground of compromise.1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Virginibus Puerisque”, in Virginibus Puerisque, and Other Papers
    Synonyms:
    brawl
  2. (dated, plural, plural-only) Bare-knuckled boxing, a form of boxing done without boxing gloves or similar padding.
    • In his college days of athletic exercises, Mr. Crisparkle had known professors of the Noble Art of fisticuffs, […]1870 April–September, Charles Dickens, “Chapter XVII”, in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1870, →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    prizefighting

Also used as

fisticuffs is also the plural of fisticuff.

Synonyms of fisticuffs

All synonyms of fisticuffs

Questions about fisticuffs

What does fisticuffs mean?
Fisticuffs means an impromptu fight with the fists, usually between only two people.
What part of speech is fisticuffs?
Fisticuffs is a noun.
How do you pronounce fisticuffs?
Fisticuffs is pronounced /ˈfɪs.tɪ.kʌfs/ (UK).

Words near fisticuffs in the dictionary

  1. fisticuffer
  2. fisticuffers
  3. fisticuffery
  4. fisticuffing
  5. fisticuffings
  6. fisticuffs
  7. fistily
  8. fistiness
  9. fisting
  10. fistings
  11. fistinut

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: fisticuffs (page history and authors). 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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