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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

The irony is that a minority once viewed as filled with sissies and losers is now portrayed as filled with bullies and power brokers, and straight people, especially men, seem to perceive themselves as the weak and afraid ones. —

Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 27 Mar. 2026 For example, his steady job working in a bookstore blows up when it is set on fire and destroyed by those bullies ruling the neighborhood. —

Pete Hammond, Deadline, 23 Mar. 2026 And there will not be a skateboard chase with Marty eluding Biff and his fellow bullies. —

Rick Mauch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Mar. 2026 Political bullies also enjoy demeaning names and character assassination. —

Arkansas Online, 16 Mar. 2026 Rodin plays one of the bullies. —

Alex Ross, New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2026 At Wednesday’s news conference, Glassman played a video showing the moment when Khimberly and her 15-year-old sister were allegedly attacked by bullies. —

Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2026 The boys had a reputation as bullies. —

James D. Walsh, Curbed, 10 Mar. 2026 Iran lies, cheats, blusters and bullies. —

Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 5 Mar. 2026

Verb

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

Doom has corridors, enemies, three-dimensional navigation and a lot of things that are trying to kill you.

— Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American, 28 Mar. 2026
Bolstered by a vastly superior air force and hard-to-overwhelm missile defenses, Israel is more than a match for its enemies, even Iran, and will remain so for a decade or more.

— Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 2026