- present participle of bully.
bullying
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of bullying
First recorded in 1675–85; bully 1 ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. )
Explanation
Bullying is the act of intimidating someone else. Threatening to beat up your little brother if he doesn't clean your room for you is most certainly an act of bullying. You may have heard of the word bully, which is a person, often young, who harasses others. A schoolyard bully might call you names, steal your lunch money, and generally make your life miserable. Bullying is the act of being a bully. Believe it or not, bullying can be serious business with grave consequences. There are even laws that require schools to take action against bullying.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s hard to tell when, exactly, raising legitimate concern about a woman celebrity’s appearance became synonymous with your run-of-the-mill misogyny or bullying.
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026
The video itself has been roundly seen as damaging to Miller, who comes across as bullying and condescending, and whose rage at the situation seems to be boiling just below the surface.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026
During the 2021-22 school year, before its wide-scale adoption of restorative justice, this district of roughly 20,000 students had almost 2,500 instances of violence, bullying and weapons infractions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Later, he said the bullying he experienced there might have caused his “behavior difficulties.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
And then Jake came to Alaska’s defense, saying that she would never cheat because she loved him, and then I was like, ‘Don’t worry about Sara. She just likes bullying people.’
From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
