feistiness

noun

as in aggression
an inclination to fight or quarrel a panel of political pundits with a well-earned reputation for unfettered feistiness

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of feistiness Many of Paraguay’s transgressions could have ended in yellow cards, but did not and towards the end, France brought their own feistiness to the fore. — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 5 July 2026 Mangiapane’s feistiness is something the group can learn from, now that the 29-year-old is suddenly a veteran in the locker room. — Kalen Lumpkins, Chicago Tribune, 14 Mar. 2026 Simeone will have to find ways to replace De Paul’s feistiness in midfield, Lino’s strong wing play, and Correa’s tenacity off the bench. — Vitas Carosella, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2025 Council, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound, 24-year-old native of Rochester, New York, showed some of that feistiness during the recent Pacers’ workout. — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 10 June 2026 Drescher brought greater visibility and idiosyncratic feistiness to SAG-AFTRA, but can that momentum be sustained? — Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 20 Aug. 2025 Thanks to the care from the hospital staff at Carne Foundation and her own feistiness, Sienna Bobbie Crocker now weighs seven pounds, 12 ½ ounces and last Monday, 43 days after her birthday, the family brought her home. — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 3 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for feistiness
  1. aggression
  2. aggressiveness
  3. defiance
  4. hostility
  5. pugnacity
Noun
  • Ukraine has every right to attack Russia’s military infrastructure that sustains its aggression.
    — David A. Deptula, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
  • Issues could include insomnia, aggression, difficulty concentrating, sensitivity to psychotropic medication and exacerbation of existing mental illness -- like anxiety, depression and schizophrenia.
    — Mark Prussin, CBS News, 29 June 2026
Definition of aggression
Noun
  • Dillon Thieneman’s speed Since draft night in April, Thieneman has been lauded for his combination of speed, instincts and aggressiveness.
    — Dan Wiederer, New York Times, 24 June 2026
  • This is a lineup structured to thrive with a small-ball approach — high batting average, chaos and aggressiveness on the basepaths, and manufacturing runs.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 18 June 2026
Definition of aggressiveness
Noun
  • His clippings included reporting on Black students facing higher rates of suspension for willful defiance and a cover story on Oak Park residents who offered a history of the neighborhood.
    — Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 27 June 2026
  • One defendant convicted by a jury continues to engage in noisy defiance.
    — Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 27 June 2026
Definition of defiance
Noun
  • Engelbert has consistently mismanaged the overt physical hostility directed at the league's biggest star.
    — Alejandro Avila OutKick, FOXNews.com, 1 July 2026
  • Today, however, some experts suggest that explicit displays of racial hostility have become more visible in public spaces.
    — Maia Niguel Hoskin, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of hostility
Noun
  • But all of that is in addition to his defense, his rebounding, his slashing, his voice, his pugnacity.
    — Marcus Thompson II, New York Times, 22 May 2026
  • Trump had won by fifty-three points there in 2016, and Greene’s paranoid pugnacity seemed like a good fit, if voters could stomach an outsider.
    — Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 5 Jan. 2026
Definition of pugnacity

Browse Nearby Words

feints
feistiness
feisty
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Cite this Entry

“Feistiness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/feistiness. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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