bare-knuckle

adjective or adverb

bare-knuck·​le ˈber-ˈnə-kəl 

variants or less commonly bare-knuckled

ˈber-ˈnə-kəld 

or bare-knuckles

ˈber-ˈnə-kəlz 

1

: not using boxing gloves

champion bare-knuckle prizefighter of England

—Dennis Craig

when men fought bare-knuckle

2

: having a fierce unrelenting character

bare-knuckle politics

Examples of bare-knuckle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

About freshman quarterback Finley Lucas, whose 41-yard score on the first drive let Mead know that this was going to be a bare-knuckle fight. —Troy Renck, The Denver Post, 7 Dec. 2024

The victory validates his bare-knuckle approach to politics. —Ani Freedman, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2024

But Prograis also flirted with the idea of bare-knuckle boxing. —Josh Katzowitz, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024

For the 1991 update, Robert De Niro turns the terror up even higher for his take on Cady, and Scorsese puts out a bare-knuckle thriller that’s pulpier than almost anything else in his repertoire. —Jordan Crucchiola, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1882, in the meaning defined at sense 1