- 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.
They will also be held directly responsible for protecting under-18s from pornography, online bullying, content that glorifies crime, and content that encourages eating disorders.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
"It's the story of an outsider, and bullying has not gone away in 50 years," she says.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
The family also addressed “disturbing” social media posts targeting the blogger for his past behavior bullying celebrities through his coverage, and reminded the public that Hilton’s three children came close to losing their father.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
Australia implemented legislation barring children from social media platforms in December, part of a world-first crackdown designed to protect children from online bullying and "predatory algorithms".
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
Also, he never told our parents about the bullying when it involved him.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
