as in domineering
fond of ordering people around
I don't want to work with him because he's so bossy and always runs roughshod over me
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Recent Examples of bossy
Interactions with friends and groups could get out of hand with high energy that becomes bossy.
—
Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 5 Apr. 2026
That conceptual tension has led early users to experience agentic AI as a sort of bossy servant.
—Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 25 Mar. 2026
Debb tried to take control of the Kucha tribe early, but the others weren't having it and saw her as bossy, voting her out at the first Tribal Council.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Feb. 2026
The idea stems from the belief that children from single-child families tend to develop negative personality characteristics, such as being bossy, spoiled, or not social.
—Cynthia Hanson, Parents, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bossy
Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 5 Apr. 2026
That conceptual tension has led early users to experience agentic AI as a sort of bossy servant.
—Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 25 Mar. 2026
Debb tried to take control of the Kucha tribe early, but the others weren't having it and saw her as bossy, voting her out at the first Tribal Council.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Feb. 2026
The idea stems from the belief that children from single-child families tend to develop negative personality characteristics, such as being bossy, spoiled, or not social.
—Cynthia Hanson, Parents, 17 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bossy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bossy
Adjective
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Musk’s company has inked lucrative AI deals with Anthropic and Google and plans to be the domineering firm behind orbital data centers, which SpaceX has said could be deployed as early as 2028.—
Antonio Pequeño IV,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2026
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Many figures within evangelicalism have promoted an aggressive, domineering, even abusive view of manhood—affixing to it, as Du Mez argues, the label biblical.—
Peter Wehner,
The Atlantic,
10 June 2026
Adjective
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The death of Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei stunned Iranians, many of whom had never known anything but his authoritarian leadership.—
Kevin Liptak,
CNN Money,
14 June 2026
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Our research suggests that activists seeking to protect American democracy from authoritarian influences are pursuing a failing strategy.—
Scott Warren,
The Atlantic,
13 June 2026
Adjective
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The two roles underline the actor’s formidable versatility, all skittish panic in the former and arrogant sociopathy in the other.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
13 June 2026
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Washington State’s beauty is almost arrogant in its expansiveness.—
C Pam Zhang,
Travel + Leisure,
11 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bossy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bossy. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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