Fisty

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Involving the use of clenched fists, or having a pugnacious, fist-fighting character
2. Relating to fists or to a tendency to settle disputes by hitting with the hands
3. Characterized by the use of fists, especially in a rough or combative manner

Etymology: "Fisty" is a plain formation: the noun "fist" with the adjective-forming suffix "-y", meaning something like "having to do with a fist" or "inclined to use the fists." The suffix turns a body part into a description of a quality or tendency, the same way "bony" or "hairy" work. The word is also a doublet of "fistic," a related term built from the same root. Doublets are pairs of words that descend from a single source but reached English by different routes and took on separate forms and senses. Here the two words share the noun "fist" as their core, with "fistic" carrying the more formal, boxing-related flavour and "fisty" the everyday, colloquial one.