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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Among those acolytes is Lucien (Jérémy Gillet), a reedy, repressed young virgin who yearns to be part of the gay community but hasn’t the courage to come out to his domineering mother Christine (Elisabeth Wiener), who also just happens to be the country’s very right-wing health minister.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
23 May 2026
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Down at the bottom of the hierarchy, or really not ranked at all, is Lucien (Jérémy Gillet), a fey and cosseted twink of privilege who longs to meet Jim but is kept at home, safely away from anything gay, by his domineering mother.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
17 May 2026
Adjective
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Regardless of why Americans express neutrality, those who do so are just as likely to vote for authoritarian politicians as the relatively small number of Americans (less than 1 in 5) who explicitly support undemocratic practices.—
Matthew E.K. Hall,
Chicago Tribune,
6 June 2026
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Safety regulations – intended to constrain corporate power – in authoritarian regimes become tools to coerce compliance.—
Michael Gregory,
The Conversation,
4 June 2026
Adjective
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The tension between the two boils over into a confrontation which only Eisenhower can adjudicate, a task complicated by his own arrogant British subordinate, a wiry and dislikable General Bernard Montgomery - played with a villainous verve bordering on the pantomime by Damian Lewis.—
Daniel Jonah Wolpert,
NPR,
29 May 2026
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Public policy decisions always need to strive for middle ground, and those leadership decisions often referred to as arrogant can just as easily be called principled leadership.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
23 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bossy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bossy. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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