truculent
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
First attested circa 1540, from Latin truculentus (“fierce, savage”), from trux (“fierce, wild”).
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Adjective
truculent (comparative more truculent, superlative most truculent)
- Of things or persons that are cruel or savage
- When we were touring on a riverboat near Dandong, the truculent North Korean soldiers from the other side of the river gave us a steely-eyed death stare.
- Deadly or destructive.
- Defiant or uncompromising.
- Eager or quick to argue, fight or start a conflict.
[edit] Quotations
- 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, ch VI,
- In her turn, Helen Burns asked me to explain, and I proceeded forthwith to pour out, in my own way, the tale of my sufferings and resentments. Bitter and truculent when excited, I spoke as I felt, without reserve or softening.
- 1860-1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, ch XLVI,
- She really was a most charming girl, and might have passed for a captive fairy, whom that truculent Ogre, Old Barley, had pressed into his service.
- 1895, H. G. Wells, The Wheels of Chance, ch 10,
- Most of them were little dramatic situations, crucial dialogues, the return of Mr. Hoopdriver to his native village, for instance, in a well-cut holiday suit and natty gloves, the unheard asides of the rival neighbours, the delight of the old 'mater,' the intelligence—"A ten-pound rise all at once from Antrobus, mater. Whad d'yer think of that?" or again, the first whispering of love, dainty and witty and tender, to the girl he served a few days ago with sateen, or a gallant rescue of generalised beauty in distress from truculent insult or ravening dog.
- 1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Beasts of Tarzan, ch 10,
- If he came too close to a she with a young baby, the former would bare her great fighting fangs and growl ominously, and occasionally a truculent young bull would snarl a warning if Tarzan approached while the former was eating.
- 1922,Rafael Sabatini, Captain Blood: His Odyssy, ch XVI,
- Cahusac appeared to be having it all his own way, and he raised his harsh, querulous voice so that all might hear his truculent denunciation.
[edit] Synonyms
- (cruel or savage): barbarous, cruel, ferocious, fierce, savage
- (deadly or destructive): deadly, destructive
- (defiant or uncompromising): defiant, inflexible, stubborn, uncompromising, unyielding
- See also Wikisaurus:obstinate
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
cruel or savage
deadly or destructive
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defiant or uncompromising
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[edit] See also
[edit] Anagrams
[edit] French
[edit] Etymology
From Latin truculentus (“fierce, savage”), from trux (“fierce, wild”).
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Adjective
truculent m. (f. truculente, m. plural truculents, f. plural truculentes)
- Violent or belligerent in a colorful, over-the-top or memorable fashion.
