Standard Lemma guide

truculent

adj · 6 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.

  • trŭkʹyə-lənt
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtɹʌk.jʊ.lənt/
  • General-American: /ˈtɹʌk.jə.lənt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: T R AH1 K Y AH0 L AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Cruel or savage.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The truculent soldiers gave us a steely-eyed stare.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: barbarous, ferocious, fierce, bowelless, brutal, compassionless, cruel, demonic, despiteful, diabolic, diabolical, fell, incessive, inclement, inhuman, inhumane, malicious, merciless, nasty, nonhumane, pitiless, remorseless, rotten, ruthless, sadistic, savage, spiteful, truculent, unbenevolent, unbenign, unkind, unmerciful, unpitiful, unpitying, animalistic, barbarian, barbaric, barbarious, brutish, Gothic, Gothlike, grim, heathen, heathenish, heathenly, heathenous, incivil, pagan, tenebrose, uncivil, uncivilized, uncouth, uncultivated, uncultured, uplandish, wolfish

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Defiant or uncompromising.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: inflexible, stubborn, unyielding, adamant, ardent, grim, bent on, bloody-minded, bullheaded, certain, chronic, confirmed, determined, diehard, dogged, hard-hearted, hard-nosed, hardheaded, headstrong, immovable, incalcitrant, irrefragable, insistent, intractable, intransigent, intrepid, inveterate, mulish, obdurate, obstinate, obstreperous, peevish, peremptory, persistent, pertinacious, pigheaded, recalcitrant, refractory, resolute, resolved, rigid, self-willed, stalwart, staunch, steadfast, steady, stubborn as a mule, sullen, tenacious, terminal, thran, thwart, tough, truculent, unbending, uncompromising, vehement, wilful, willful

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Eager or quick to argue, fight or start a conflict.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bellicose, belligerent, pugnacious, aggressive, antagonistic, assaultive, combative, martial, militaristic, philopolemic, philopolemical, quarrelsome, truculent, warlike

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Violent; rude; scathing; savage; harsh.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: acerbic, caustic, vitriolic, vituperative

Antonyms: none provided

5

adj

Meaning 5

Destructive; deadly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, rare

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

defiantly aggressive

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a truculent speech against the new government

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

First attested circa 1540, from Middle French, from Latin truculentus (“fierce, savage”), from trux (“fierce, wild”).

Across languages

Translations

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: свиреп (svirep) — cruel or savage
  • Bulgarian: жесток (žestok) — cruel or savage
  • Catalan: truculent — cruel or savage
  • Dutch: agressief — cruel or savage
  • Dutch: kwaadaardig — cruel or savage
  • Dutch: wild — cruel or savage
  • French: agressif — cruel or savage
  • Georgian: სასტიკი (sasṭiḳi) — cruel or savage
  • German: grausam — cruel or savage
  • German: wild — cruel or savage
  • German: barbarisch — cruel or savage
  • German: grob — cruel or savage
  • Māori: tainanakia — cruel or savage
  • Māori: muha — cruel or savage
  • Portuguese: truculento — cruel or savage
  • Russian: жесто́кий (žestókij) — cruel or savage
  • Serbo-Croatian: surov — cruel or savage
  • Spanish: truculento — cruel or savage
  • Bulgarian: предизвикателен (predizvikatelen) — defiant or uncompromising
  • Georgian: მტრული (mṭruli) — defiant or uncompromising
  • German: trotzig — defiant or uncompromising
  • Russian: вызыва́ющий (vyzyvájuščij) — defiant or uncompromising
  • Bulgarian: войнствен (vojnstven) — eager or quick to argue, fight or start a conflict
  • Bulgarian: агресивен (agresiven) — eager or quick to argue, fight or start a conflict
  • Dutch: twistziek — eager or quick to argue, fight or start a conflict
  • Dutch: vechtlustig — eager or quick to argue, fight or start a conflict
  • German: streitsüchtig — eager or quick to argue, fight or start a conflict
  • German: aufsässig — eager or quick to argue, fight or start a conflict
  • German: widerspenstig — eager or quick to argue, fight or start a conflict
  • Irish: colgach — eager or quick to argue, fight or start a conflict
  • Bulgarian: унищожителен (uništožitelen) — deadly or destructive
  • Dutch: dodelijk — deadly or destructive
  • Georgian: დაუნდობელი (daundobeli) — deadly or destructive
  • German: vernichtend — deadly or destructive
  • Serbo-Croatian: razoran — deadly or destructive
  • Spanish: truculento — deadly or destructive