Truculently

According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, truculently is defined as aggressively self-assertive. In the reading “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston, the word appears on the first page in paragraph 7 as stated, “He picked up the whip and glared down at her. Delia went on with her work. She went out into the yard and returned with a galvanized tub and set it on the washbench. She saw that Sykes had kicked all of the clothes together again, and now stood in her way truculently, his whole manner hoping, praying, for an argument. But she walked calmly around him and commenced to re-sort the things”. Now knowing what this word means, the author is saying that Sykes stood in Delia’s way aggressively, in an authoritarian way in show of power over her.