bovver
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of bovver
1965–70; representing Cockney pronunciation of bother (noun), probably originally as a euphemism
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.
The satirical puppet show, Spitting Image, portrayed him as a leather-clad bovver boy, the enforcer of the Iron Lady's doctrine.
From BBC • Jul. 8, 2025
The police box was equipped with a rotating blue light on its Moorish roof and a telephone for bobbies to call in the Depression-era equivalent of an airstrike: truncheon-wielding bovver boys on horseback.
From New York Times • Nov. 28, 2012
You know, "Wo' a bloody bovver" and all.
From Salon • Feb. 10, 2011
"We were like a pop band in our Crombies and bovver boots."
From The Guardian • Jan. 19, 2011
"I don't bovver," he said, with a cross look in the direction of his brother and sister Rochesters.
From The Golden Scarecrow by Walpole, Hugh, Sir
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.
