Standard Lemma guide

pugilism

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈpjuːdʒɪlɪzəm/ weak vowel distinction
  • /ˈpjuːdʒəlɪzəm/ weak vowel merger
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P Y UW1 JH AH0 L IH0 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Fighting with fists.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: boxing

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

fighting with the fists

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: boxing, fisticuffs

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: contact sport

Narrower terms: professional boxing, in-fighting, fight, rope-a-dope, spar, sparring

History

Etymology

From Latin pugil (“fist”) + -ism, related to pugnus (“fist”), from Proto-Indo-European roots. Compare contemporary pugilist (“boxer”), 1790.