fisticuffs means an impromptu fight with the fists, usually between only two people. It carries an Arena rating of 1644, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, fisticuffs ranks #415 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #436 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #495 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #616 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
fisticuffs is pronounced /ˈfɪs.tɪ.kʌfs/.
Why “fisticuffs” is a great word
A fight with the fists, especially an impromptu or bare-knuckled one. The word is a compound of Old English *fȳst* ("clenched hand") and Middle English *cuffe* ("a blow, a stroke"), first attested around 1600. Unlike "boxing," which implies a formal, regulated sport with rules and equipment, or "melee," which denotes a confused, general fracas, fisticuffs suggests an informal, spontaneous, and primal one-on-one contest. It is the sudden arc of a barroom swing, the crunch of knuckle on jawbone, and the warmth of breath rasping through gritted teeth—two men locked in a clumsy, desperate dance that reverts to the most ancient and unadorned language, the body's final, wearying argument.
noun
- An impromptu fight with the fists, usually between only two people.
- Bare-knuckled boxing, a form of boxing done without boxing gloves or similar padding.e.g.“In his college days of athletic exercises, Mr. Crisparkle had known professors of the Noble Art of fisticuffs, […]” — 1870 April–September, Charles Dickens, “Chapter XVII”, in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1870, →OCLC:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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