"He's extremely confrontational," says Yannis Palaiologos, a journalist with Kathimerini, a right-of-centre Greek newspaper.
But what was supposed to be a cordial get-together quickly became confrontational, said the person close to Mrs. Clinton, who was briefed on the meeting.
"This is one where it's important to be independent and confrontational," said Mr. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut.
"The absence of derivatives in iron-ore markets makes negotiations between Australian suppliers and Chinese buyers very confrontational," says Philip Killicoat of Credit Suisse.
Even S., the mother of two who answers questions with questions and is usually confrontational, said nothing.
"Council members have found her dismissive and confrontational," said Letitia James, a councilwoman from Brooklyn who described herself as a friend of the commissioner's.
"I make spaces that are calm rather than confrontational," said the architect, who was sitting in a Ming dynasty horseshoe chair in her Greenwich Village apartment.
Mr. Huckabee was "true to his deeply felt principles without being abrasive or strident or confrontational," said Hal Bass, a professor at Ouachita Baptist University, and a self-described moderate.
"Although Hollywood is very competitive, it is not confrontational," said Merle Ginsberg, the entertainment editor of W magazine, who is based in Los Angeles.
"It's really challenging, it's defiant, it's confrontational," said Mary Anne Hobbs, the influential D.J. on BBC Radio 1. "They're creating beats unlike anything you've ever heard in your entire life".
