FIGHTS Synonyms: 242 Similar and Opposite Words

fights 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of fight

as in battles

to oppose (someone) in physical conflict a proud people who have fiercely fought all invaders of their homeland

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as in opposes

to strive to reduce or eliminate a civil rights leader who dedicated his life to fighting prejudice

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as in competes

to engage in a contest everyone on that street seems to be fighting to see who can create the gaudiest holiday lighting display

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as in bickers

to express different opinions about something often angrily if you kids continue to fight, I'm turning this car around and we're heading back home!

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as in resists

to refuse to give in to I tried to fight the temptation to eat another cookie—and lost

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fights

2 of 2

noun

plural of fight

as in skirmishes

a physical dispute between opposing individuals or groups a troubled youth who got into one fight after another

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truces

as in struggles

a forceful effort to reach a goal or objective the mayoral candidate pledged to lead a successful fight to improve the city's schools

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as in altercations

an often noisy or angry expression of differing opinions the couple have their share of fights, but they quickly get over them

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of fights

Verb

As Ukraine fights a larger, richer and better-equipped enemy, Kyiv sees the strikes on Russian oil refineries as one of its few instruments to reduce Moscow’s ability to fight. — CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026 Gemma, still recovering from her injury, fights her impulses and stays on the sideline. — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 7 Oct. 2026 The path of regulation In 2022, the Congressional Budget Office distilled decades of health care policy fights into a single PowerPoint slide. — Bob Herman, STAT, 5 Oct. 2026 The viral footage getting most of the attention comes from one of those T800 fights. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2026 Washington — Senate Majority Leader John Thune is set to travel to several states with key Senate races in the coming weeks as the GOP fights to hold on to its majority in the upper chamber. — Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 29 Sep. 2026 Panchavarnam now fights to preserve the sisterhood, even as her daughter chooses a different life. — Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 29 Sep. 2026 Per the Season 4 logline, Dwight (Stallone) fights to legitimize his empire and protect his crew as corrupt politicians, dangerous new enemies, and a crushing personal loss hit from every direction. — Denise Petski, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2026 Ali’s mournful assassin is trying to stay one step ahead of his enemies and, likewise, the movie fights like hell to elude conventionality. — Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026

Noun

The Real Cost Of Objections These fights are gaining traction because many of the strongest objections are financial and infrastructure-related. — Zev Laine, Forbes.com, 20 Oct. 2026 The rule, passed in June, is the subject of multiple court fights. — ABC News, 16 Oct. 2026 How peer rejection can affect teen well-being Difficult peer experiences aren’t limited to blowup fights. — Ashley Lynch, Sacbee.com, 15 Oct. 2026 Thomas brings the women back together to revisit some of the franchise’s most iconic fights and confrontations. — Peter White, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2026 After the Covid-19 pandemic, when students returned to in-person instruction, schools reported more fights, state data shows. — Rosie Cima, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2026 And sometimes people do that with drugs, some people do that with acting out or getting in fights or whatever the ways that people do it. — Christina Dugan Ramirez, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2026 The trailer also featured glimpses of steamy makeouts, ATV chases down the beach, fiery explosions, and good ol’ bar fights. — Isabella Albaig, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2026 Director Christopher Nolan uses the premise to stage spectacular sequences where cars reverse down freeways at high speed, cause and effect goes topsy-turvy, and fights are just, well, weird. — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 10 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fights

Verb

Under Paris France, 2024 A female scientist battles a killer shark who turns up in the Seine.

— Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 9 Oct. 2026
Harald’s death comes as Charles battles an undisclosed type of cancer.

— Allison DeGrushe, StyleCaster, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of battles

Verb

The museum opposes an attempt by the Jewish Federation-Council of Greater Los Angeles and its board chair Daniel Gryczman, who sued in September for the return of Lucas Cranach the Elder’s 16th-century diptych painting Adam and Eve.

— Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Doody, a former radio host, also supports school choice and opposes a millionaire tax, two notches in his favor.

— The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of opposes

Verb

Sports rights are key as Netflix competes for subscribers and advertising with rivals from DAZN to Amazon, Apple and YouTube.

— Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 19 Oct. 2026
When Patagonia's founder moved the company into a purpose trust in 2022, such extraction became impossible by design; Bosch has been majority-owned by a foundation for decades and competes ferociously.

— Christopher Marquis, Time, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of competes

Verb

An unskilled crew can raise a structural shell in weeks instead of months, and the finished building resists fire, mold, and Category 5 hurricane winds.

— Joe Mullich, Time, 15 Oct. 2026
The researchers also focused on reducing the robot’s effective inertia, a property that describes how strongly an object resists changes in its motion.

— Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of resists

Noun

This leads to even more behind-the-scenes skirmishes laced with character-centric comedy, as opposing factions align.

— Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 15 Oct. 2026
Ties between the two countries remain strained over their long-running Himalayan border dispute, which erupted into a deadly skirmishes in 2020 that saw soldiers from both sides use rocks and iron rods in brutal hand-to-hand combat.

— Helen Regan, CNN Money, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of skirmishes

Noun

Ohio State could still beat USC on the road, even with a backup, considering the Trojans' struggles to win big games under Riley and their suffocating defense.

— Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Kansas City officials have acknowledged the city’s struggles to address homelessness, with reports ranking the city as among the worst in terms of the number of people without shelter.

— Chris Higgins, Kansas City Star, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of struggles

Noun

Images showed altercations between police and protesters, with officers using batons to strike demonstrators, who threw barriers.

— Joseph Wilson, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026
The election is taking place amid heightened political tensions in Serbia, with reports of incidents and physical altercations at campaign events.

— ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026