fighting words
Insults inviting conflict
Fighting words are speech intended to provoke a violent response—insults, slurs, or challenges so inflammatory they're likely to cause an immediate fight.
In U.S. law, fighting words fall outside First Amendment protection because they're considered more like assault than expression: He got right in my face with fighting words.
The phrase also describes any provocative statement likely to escalate conflict: Those are fighting words where I come from.
- incitementProvoking unlawful behavior
- insultOffensive remark or action
- tauntInsulting provocation
- trash talkCompetitive verbal intimidation
- verbal sparringCompetitive witty exchange
provocation · war of words · call out · verbal assault · personal attack · threat · breach of peace · crossing the line · challenge · aggression · heated exchange · offense · hate speech · First Amendment · defamation · invective · duel · slander
- verbal fightsargument, quarrel, dispute, confrontation, shouting match
- word phraseslost for words, at a loss for words, in other words, put into words, beyond words
- censorshipbanned books, censored, banned, book banning, book bans
- speech crimesdefamation, libel, slander, hate speech, incitement
- Speech Limitsdefamation, libel, slander, obscenity, incitement
- boxingjab, uppercut, hook, punch, knockout
fighting wordsolive branch
Symbol of reconciliation
peace offering · gentle words · diplomatic language · kind words · sweet nothings
fighting wordskind words
gentle words · sweet nothings · soft words · civil discourse · honeyed words
word, fight, fighting, fighter, fights, fought, fighters, infighting, prizefighter