His pugnacious tone indicated that they were not about to laugh at Xenophilius, despite the clear provocation. " Come and dance, " he added abruptly to Hermione.
Minister Adams took him for pugnacious and quarrelsome; the " Lives" of Russell, Gladstone, and Granville show him to have been good-tempered, conciliatory, avoiding quarrels.
As he made the demand he spat out a mouthful of blood and teeth and shoved his pugnacious face close to Oofty-Oofty. The Kanaka leaped backward to his bunk, to return with a second leap, flourishing a long knife.