bully
1- a blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people.
- Archaic. a man hired to do violence.
- Obsolete. a pimp; procurer.
- Obsolete. good friend; good fellow.
- Obsolete. sweetheart; darling.
- to act the bully toward; intimidate; domineer.
- to be loudly arrogant and overbearing.
- Informal. fine; excellent; very good.
- dashing; jovial; high-spirited.
- Informal. good! well done!
Origin of bully
1Synonyms for bully
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.combully
2Origin of bully
2bully
3- Soccer. a desperate, freewheeling scramble for the ball by a number of players, usually in the goal area.
- Field Hockey. a method of putting the ball into play in which two opponents, facing each other, tap their sticks on the ground near the ball and then make contact with each other's sticks over the ball three times, after which each tries to gain possession of the ball.
Origin of bully
3Related Words for bully
oppressor, rascal, terrorize, torture, hector, bludgeon, coerce, harass, torment, persecute, threaten, oppress, browbeat, ruffian, tough, tease, rowdy, bulldozer, pest, persecutorExamples from the Web for bully
Contemporary Examples of bully
UNO puts such an onus on smoking students that it ultimately seems like a bully, even more than a nanny.
And when we have been spared such tragedy, it has happened precisely because presidents have stood up to the bully caucus.
But as a true anti-bullying champion will tell you, a bully is no less a bully simply because his victim seeks to excuse him.
Ray Rice Should Have Remembered His 'Kindness' Anti-Bullying WristbandMichael Daly
September 10, 2014
Or maybe even one on each wrist, both reading “I AM A BULLY.”
Ray Rice Should Have Remembered His 'Kindness' Anti-Bullying WristbandMichael Daly
September 10, 2014
If I am elected, then I will have power and the ability to ‘bully’ Republicans, as you say.
Historical Examples of bully
"The professor made a bully speech," said more than one after the exercises were over.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
I have seen enough of you to know that you are a bully and coward.
Little DorritCharles Dickens
It was now that Globson, Bully no more, sought me out in the playground.
The Uncommercial TravellerCharles Dickens
And so it is with me, bully boy, saving that my doxy cometh not.
The Merry Adventures of Robin HoodHoward Pyle
Straight up to the bully he walked and looked him firmly in the eye.
The Widow O'Callaghan's BoysGulielma Zollinger
bully
1- a person who hurts, persecutes, or intimidates weaker people
- archaic a hired ruffian
- obsolete a procurer; pimp
- obsolete a fine fellow or friend
- obsolete a sweetheart; darling
- (when tr , often foll by into) to hurt, intimidate, or persecute (a weaker or smaller person), esp to make him do something
- dashing; jollymy bully boy
- informal very good; fine
- Also: bully for you informal well done! bravo!
Word Origin for bully
bully
2- any of various small freshwater fishes of the genera Gobiomorphus and Philynodon of New ZealandAlso called (NZ): pakoko, titarakura, toitoi
Word Origin for bully
Word Origin and History for bully
1530s, originally "sweetheart," applied to either sex, from Dutch boel "lover; brother," probably a diminutive of Middle Dutch broeder "brother" (cf. Middle High German buole "brother," source of German Buhle "lover;" see brother (n.)).
Meaning deteriorated 17c. through "fine fellow" and "blusterer" to "harasser of the weak" (1680s, from bully-ruffian, 1650s). Perhaps this was by influence of bull (n.1), but a connecting sense between "lover" and "ruffian" may be in "protector of a prostitute," which was one sense of bully (though not specifically attested until 1706). The expression meaning "worthy, jolly, admirable" (especially in 1864 U.S. slang bully for you!) is first attested 1680s, and preserves an earlier, positive sense of the word.