Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

bully pulpit

noun
|Updated on: 4 Jul 2018

Definition of bully pulpit

: a prominent public position (such as a political office) that provides an opportunity for expounding one's views; also : such an opportunity

See bully pulpit defined for English-language learners

bully pulpit was our Word of the Day on 11/08/2016. Hear the podcast!

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Get Word of the Day daily email, delivered to your inbox!

Examples of bully pulpit in a Sentence

  1. She uses her position as a famous actress as a bully pulpit.

Recent Examples of bully pulpit from the Web

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bully pulpit.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Bully vs bully pulpit

Bully pulpit comes from the 26th U.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt, who observed that the White House was a bully pulpit. For Roosevelt, bully was an adjective meaning "excellent" or "first-rate"—not the noun bully ("a blustering, browbeating person") that's so common today. Roosevelt understood the modern presidency's power of persuasion and recognized that it gave the incumbent the opportunity to exhort, instruct, or inspire. He took full advantage of his bully pulpit, speaking out about the danger of monopolies, the nation's growing role as a world power, and other issues important to him. Since the 1970s, bully pulpit has been used as a term for an office—especially a political office—that provides one with the opportunity to share one's views.

First Known Use of bully pulpit

1963

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year
NEW! Time Traveler

BULLY PULPIT Defined for English Language Learners

bully pulpit

noun

Definition of bully pulpit for English Language Learners

  • : an important public position that allows a person to express beliefs and opinions to many people

Learn More about bully pulpit

  1. See words that rhyme with bully pulpit

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up bully pulpit? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

paste

play

to beat or defeat soundly

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. ideologue 'an often blindly partisan advocate or adherent of a particular ideology'

  2. socialism 'a way of organizing a society in which major industries are owned and controlled by the government'

  3. uphold 'to let stand'

  4. due process 'a course of formal proceedings (as judicial proceedings)'

  5. asylum 'protection from arrest and extradition given especially to political refugees'

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

bully pulpit

Test Your Vocabulary

Test Your Emoji Exceptionalism

  • test-your-emoji-exceptionalism-written-with-a-lot-of-emoji
  • What is this emoji intended to represent: 🤳
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

TAKE THE QUIZ
Add Diction

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games