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pugilist

pugilist

4 8.5
A person who fights with their fists, often as a professional boxer
  • noun
  • /ˈpjuːdʒɪlɪst/
translation icon : boxeador
  • During the championship match, the pugilist displayed incredible speed and technique.

Examples

  • Thom Jones is the author of The Pugilist at Rest, a collection of short stories.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • It must be most interesting, Kid, the life of a pugilist.

  • Don't you find seeking a career as a pugilist and reading for a degree at Oxford a bit, how shall we put it, intellectually challenging?

    Fiction book (1992)
  • And at his age, he knew it would be a bit hard to claim it was all a result of a stirring round of fisticuffs; his glory days as a pugilist for Eton were long behind him.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Vargas walked from his dressing room to the ring accompanied by Julio César Chávez, the legendary pugilist from Culiacán, Mexico.

    Academic text (2013)
  • The trained pugilist entered the ring with confidence, ready to defend his title.

  • Many young athletes aspire to become a successful pugilist and compete professionally.

Synonyms

fighter
vspugilist
682 2.8

A person who fights for a cause or as a job

is specifically about fighting with fists, often in the sport rather than all fights
boxer
vspugilist
106 1.0

A person who fights using their fists in a sport with rules

is about fighting with fists in general rather than only regulated sport
prizefighter
vspugilist
7 6.0

A boxer who fights for money

is a general term for someone fighting with fists, not limited to prize contests
puncher
vspugilist
6 4.3

A person who hits people with their fist, often in boxing

is about a person who fights with fists professionally, not only delivering punches
7.0

A trained person who fights in boxing matches for money

is similar but can mean any person who fights with fists, not only paid professionals
pugil
vspugilist
  • Archaic
9.9

A person who fights with fists, like a boxer

is the modern common term for fighting with fists, often professional

Compounds

A trained person who fights in boxing matches for money

How Professional

champion
1 3.5
pugilist
4 8.5
boxer
106 1.0
trainee
50 2.4
amateur
122 2.8

Surface Forms

pugilist singular
pugilists plural

Morphology

pugilist = pugil (opaque) = pugil + ist

The root 'pugil' is a learned Latin combining form unfamiliar to most learners, so the agentive '-ist' does not yield a transparently derivable meaning from common English vocabulary.

Etymology

Pugilist comes from the Latin word pugnus, meaning 'fist', and from pugil, which meant 'boxer'. A helpful way to remember it is to imagine someone using their 'fists' to fight, which is why a pugilist is a boxer who fights with their fists.