truculent

adjective5

1. •
   Defiant or uncompromising.

   • Rokoff assumed a truculent air, attempting by bravado to show how little he feared Tarzan’s threats. — 1913
2. •
   Eager or quick to argue, fight or start a conflict.

   • She might pity herself, but he must not pity her. She did not want any quarrel; she blamed him for wanting one, but she could not help assuming a truculent attitude. — 1877
3. •
   Cruel or savage.

   • The truculent soldiers gave us a steely-eyed stare.
4. •
   Violent; rude; scathing; savage; harsh.

   • Voltaire is never either gross or truculent. — 1872
5. •
   (no longer used, rare) Destructive; deadly.

   • More or less truculent Plagues. — 1665