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An affable person is pleasant, friendly, and easy to talk to.
Amity is a peaceful friendship between two parties, particularly between two countries.
Your antagonist is an opponent in a competition or battle.
If you are bellicose, you behave in an aggressive way and are likely to start an argument or fight.
A belligerent person or country is aggressive, very unfriendly, and likely to start a fight.
If you describe someone as benign, they are kind, gentle, and harmless.
Someone who has a bilious personality is highly irritable and bad-tempered.
Bonhomie is a friendly feeling among a group of people.
If you describe a person’s behavior or speech as brusque, you mean that they say or do things abruptly or too quickly in a somewhat rude and impolite way.
Camaraderie is a feeling of friendship and trust among a group of people who have usually known each over a long period of time.
Someone who is cantankerous is bad-tempered and always finds things to complain about.
A cavalier person does not seem to care about rules, principles, or other people’s feelings, no matter how dire or serious a situation may be.
Someone who is churlish is impolite and unfriendly, especially towards another who has done nothing to deserve ill-treatment.
If someone is granted clemency, they are punished less severely than they could have been—they have been shown mercy.
If someone is complaisant, they are willing to please others and do what they want without complaining.
Conciliation is a process intended to end an argument between two groups of people.
When someone is contentious, they are argumentative and likely to provoke a fight.
If you are contrite, you are very sorry or ashamed that you have done something bad.
A convivial atmosphere or occasion is friendly, pleasant, cheerful, and relaxed.
A man who is debonair is sophisticated, charming, friendly, and confident.
If you describe someone, usually a young woman, as demure, you mean that she is quiet, shy, and always behaves modestly.
If you say something is diabolical, you are emphasizing that it is evil, cruel, or very bad.
Draconian rules and laws are extremely strict and harsh.
If someone is inimical, they are unfriendly and will likely cause you harm.
If you inveigh against something, you criticize it very strongly.
An irascible person becomes angry very easily.
Jingoism is excessive nationalism, including the strong belief that your country is better than other countries.
Someone who is jovial is in a good humor, lighthearted, and jolly.
Someone who is obstreperous is noisy, unruly, and difficult to control.
A pejorative word, phrase, or expression expresses a bad opinion of someone or something.
To act in a pugnacious manner is to act in a combative and aggressive way.
A troglodyte is reclusive, severely lacking in social skills, and is out of step with current times.
To come out of something unscathed is to come out of it uninjured.
Vituperative remarks are full of hate, anger, and cruel criticism.
Adj.
truculent
TRUHK-yuh-luhnt
Context
Old European tales are filled with truculent, bullying, and aggressive characters who argue a great deal. Who could forget the grumpy, bad-tempered, and truculent troll who jealously guarded the passage across his stone bridge in “The Three Billy Goats Gruff?” Also memorable is the savage, hostile, truculent giant in “Jack and the Beanstalk” who chases Jack down from his castle in the sky, swinging his club in violent anger.
Quiz:Try again!
When is someone being truculent?
When they act in an aggressive and quarrelsome way.
When they tell a number of falsehoods for their own purposes.
When they are hopeless or lost—and do not know what to do about it.
ViolentTruck Imagine truculent Chuck as a violenttruck and you'll understand why he's a bully of students and teachers alike.
Examples
First coming aboard, a new arrival makes a cautious survey of the crew, trying to winnow the affable and good-natured from the surly and truculent.
— Jack Vance, American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer
Steinbrenner’s truculent, the-boss-is-always-right style created epic clashes with his managers and players, not the least of which was with Billy Martin, whom he dumped as manager five times.
—
TIME
Dana laced his messages with such obscurities as "truculent" and "hibernating," words these young cipher operators had never heard before and had no idea what they meant. . . . Lincoln could have told them what those words meant, for he had had firsthand experience in these weary three years of civil war with truculent generals and hibernating armies.
—
The New York Times
Mr. Scott’s gravelly voice and initially truculent manner yield to mellowness, as the reclusive Huck gradually admits recognizing his "friend of long ago."
—
The Christian Science Monitor
A truculent person is “full of savagery” or “rich in ferocity.”
Word Theater
Are You Being Served Mrs. Slocum is certainly truculent!
The panel shows a small video clip of either the word in actual use or a scene that represents the meaning of a word. This not only breaks up the monotony of studying words but also provides another avenue to strengthen word meaning. Enjoy!
