Bully

/ˈbʊli/ · noun

Meaning

A person who is intentionally physically or emotionally cruel to others, especially to those whom they perceive as being vulnerable or of less power or privilege..

Definitions by Sense

1. A person who is intentionally physically or emotionally cruel to others, especially to those whom they perceive as being vulnerable or of less power or privilege.
2. A noisy, blustering, tyrannical person, more insolent than courageous; one who is threatening and quarrelsome.
3. A hired thug.
4. A sex worker's minder.
5. (uncountable) Bully beef.
6. (obsolete) A brisk, dashing fellow.
7. The small scrum in the Eton College field game.
8. Any of various small freshwater or brackishwater fish of the family Eleotridae; sleeper gobies.

Example Sentences

A playground bully pushed a girl off the swing.

I noticed you being a bully towards people with disabilities.

Besides, bullies seldom execute the threats they deal in; and men of trick and cunning are not always men of desperate resolves.

And I think the facts are that Beijing is a belligerent bully jealous and envious of what Taiwan has accomplished- mainland China- that's what I get out of all of this.

Mr. Fisher returned from town... he had learnt that our opponents intended to shift the scene of operations to the Chats... We understood that they had hired two bullies for the purpose of deciding the matter par voie de fait. Mr Fisher hired two of the same description, who were supposed to be more than a match for the opposition party.

The Proclamation Society and the Society for the Suppression of Vice were more concerned with obscene literature […] than with hands-on street battles with prostitutes and their bullies […].

What sayest thou, Bully Bottom?

Frae Team Gut to Whitley, we' coals black an' brown For the Amphitrite loaded, the keel had come down— But the bullies ower neet had their gobs se oft wet, That the nyem o' the ship yen an' a' did forget.

Synonyms for bully

Antonyms for bully

Related Words

Word Forms

• bullies
• bullying
• bullied
• bullier
• bulliest

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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