BULLIES Synonyms: 180 Similar and Opposite Words

bullies 1 of 2

noun

plural of bully

as in enemies

a person who teases, threatens, or hurts smaller, weaker, or more vulnerable persons the school has a procedure for students who want to report problems with bullies

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as in thugs

a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang the local loan shark and his bullies have ways of making people pay up

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bullies

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of bully

as in abuses

to inflict physical or emotional harm upon the kindergarten teacher explained why it was wrong to bully classmates

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as in intimidates

to make timid or fearful by or as if by threats the manager was fired for bullying employees

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of bullies

Noun

While audiences watched Sheldon navigate school and its bullies, the actors behind the scenes were building impressive lives of their own. —

Jane Lacroix, PEOPLE, 17 May 2026 There are others as well, like a special investigator character working from the outside, who feels like an afterthought in the writing process, and some teenage bullies who meet delicious ends. —

Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 17 May 2026 Racine quickly rises, beats the bullies, and then returns to sit next to her sister. —

Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 13 May 2026 The math did not math for a 68-team field for 300-plus basketball teams, and so in the midst of their relatively hostile takeover, the bullies also tossed the leaded balloon about tournament expansion. —

Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 8 May 2026 Skip bullies like Canadian goldenrod that have rampant roots and seeds that self-sow everywhere. —

Teresa Woodard, Midwest Living, 3 May 2026 In other words, nobody brags, bullies or buys their way into the Derby. —

Peter Keating, New York Times, 1 May 2026 Ruben, a charming but terrifyingly angry juvenile delinquent, pummels timid, bookish Niall’s bullies. —

Judy Berman, Time, 21 Apr. 2026 Blackwell, a pharmaceutical sales representative in Los Angeles, said the Nicholsons favored certain players, including two whom Blackwell described as bullies. —

Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 9 Apr. 2026

Verb

The Pledge is meaningless if the president of the United States lies to us, divides us, bullies us and steals from us. —

Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2026 Collective action deters bullies Harvard never stood alone. —

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 1 Feb. 2026 There’s always a mean kid in your class who bullies everybody else. —

Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026 The Bullies Versus The Bullied Studies show that men make up around 65% to 70% of workplace bullies overall, which researchers argue is in alignment with broader power disparities, as men continue to hold a majority of senior leadership roles. —

Maia Niguel Hoskin, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026 Henry Bowers is the local punk who relentlessly bullies the Losers' Club and later falls under the spell of Pennywise. —

Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Dec. 2025 Cipher bullies other characters across the season about their powers, but because of Andre and Polarity’s degenerative abilities, this underscores the eugenics behind his beliefs. —

Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 24 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bullies

Noun

Vaccines present either defanged pathogens or distinctive fragments of them to specialized immune cells—namely, T cells and antibody-producing B cells—that can then learn to identify those microbial enemies.

— Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 15 May 2026
His history with China has not been positive — he is embroiled with allies and enemies, and faces an economy that could derail his leadership.

— Rob Crilly, The Washington Examiner, 15 May 2026