1. (

• hard-bitten ,
• hard-boiled ,
• pugnacious

) tough and callous by virtue of experience ;

2. (

• pugnacious ,
• rough

) ready and able to resort to force or violence; "pugnacious spirits...lamented that there was so little prospect of an exhilarating disturbance"- Herman Melville; "they were rough and determined fighting men" ;