prizefighter

noun

prize·​fight·​er ˈprīz-ˌfī-tər 

plural prizefighters

: a professional boxer who competes in matches for money prizes

Grandpa James himself was a prizefighter in Tampa before moving to Key West during the Depression … . Five years ago he coldcocked a 33-year-old man with a left hook.

—Rick Telander

Synonyms

• boxer
• fighter
• gladiator
• pug
• pugilist

Examples of prizefighter in a Sentence

a prizefighter who is generally acknowledged to be one of the ring's most dangerous men

Recent Examples on the Web

The choice, as Huston pointed out, brought a sense of timelessness to the story of Mikey (Michael Pitt), a prizefighter freshly out of prison who spends the day before his last fight reconnecting with his past in 1989 New York City. —Mark Peikert, IndieWire, 7 Dec. 2024

Long assumed to be man-eaters, hammerhead sharks live in Florida, but very rarely bother humans. Sharks to watch out for in Florida (click for more): Bull Shark The prizefighter of the ocean: stout, surly and stubborn. —Erik Vance, New York Times, 26 July 2024

And then New York ended the series an evening later, on a tenth-inning homer by Soto, whose numerous baseball talents include a prizefighter’s swaggering eagerness to shuffle and then pounce. —Nicholas Dawidoff, The New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2024

Nowhere is that bond stronger than with hip-hop, with prizefighters walking out to the ring with their favorite artists, rap verses referencing greats of the sport, and boxers dropping albums of their own. —Justin Koreis, Rolling Stone, 12 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

earlier, "person participating in a prize," from prise, price, prize "sporting contest usually between two opponents, as a fencing or wrestling match" (of uncertain origin) + fighter, after fight a prize "to enter into a duel or contest"; the initial element was later taken as prize entry 1

First Known Use

1861, in the meaning defined above