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quarrelsome

UK/ˈkwɒɹəlsəm/US/ˈkwɔɹəlsəm/
adjectiveB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,322 of 15,258neutral

Quarrelsome means always ready to argue. A quarrelsome neighbour, quarrelsome and difficult, quarrelsome by nature.

It describes a settled disposition rather than a mood, which is why it is such a heavy thing to say about somebody. The -some ending means tending towards, as in troublesome and burdensome.

Definitions of quarrelsome

  1. 1adjectivequarrelsomeAlways ready to argue.B2+

    “The two quarrelsome brothers could not sit at the same table without fighting.”

quarrelsome is a quality.

Where it comes from

Quarrel plus -some, the ending meaning tending towards.

From quarrel + some.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

quarrelsome in the wild

  • The word is also used in modern English to mean a violent, overbearing, turbulent, brawling, quarrelsome woman; a virago, shrew, or vixen.

    Termagant

  • The surname may be derived from the nickname for a prickly, stubborn, or quarrelsome person.

    Yershov (surname)

  • Vulgar and quarrelsome, their duty is to force the corrupt politicians (barrators) to stay under the surface of a boiling lake of pitch.

    Malebranche (Divine Comedy)

  • Lucius Fufius had a quarrelsome personality with passionate oratory, which he retained into extreme old age until his voice was almost gone.

    Lucius Fufius

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.