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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 bossy
With the sun, Venus and Mercury moving through your bossy 10th house of career and authority this season, your work life becomes more visible and demanding.
—
Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 21 Dec. 2025
Imagine the bossy, vegetal crunch of a nearly raw bell pepper.
—Adam Erace, Bon Appetit Magazine, 11 Dec. 2025
Sybil was hotelier Basil Fawlty’s acerbic and bossy wife, who argued frequently with Basil and was often the subject of his ire.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 28 Oct. 2025
On the show, Scales’ bossy Sybil Fawlty and Cleese’s dysfunctional Basil Fawlty run a hotel in the town of Torquay in Devon, England.
—Rhett Bartlett, HollywoodReporter, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bossy
Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 21 Dec. 2025
Imagine the bossy, vegetal crunch of a nearly raw bell pepper.
—Adam Erace, Bon Appetit Magazine, 11 Dec. 2025
Sybil was hotelier Basil Fawlty’s acerbic and bossy wife, who argued frequently with Basil and was often the subject of his ire.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 28 Oct. 2025
On the show, Scales’ bossy Sybil Fawlty and Cleese’s dysfunctional Basil Fawlty run a hotel in the town of Torquay in Devon, England.
—Rhett Bartlett, HollywoodReporter, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bossy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bossy
Adjective
-
Netflix’s domineering presence, one that permeated every corner of a typically sacred day at the ballpark, had mercifully evaporated.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
27 Mar. 2026
-
Wrapping production last October, Carrie is described as a reimagining of the story of misfit high schooler Carrie White, who has spent her life in seclusion with her domineering mother.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
By definition, regime change is systemic change – something that has yet to be seen in the Islamic Republic, which remains under the same authoritarian theocracy that has been in place since the Iranian Revolution in 1979.—
Lauren Kent,
CNN Money,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Stability without democracy is a replicable model that could normalize the management of useful authoritarian governments worldwide.—
Boris Muñoz,
Time,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The rabbi is ornery, arrogant, sometimes cruel.—
Daniel Felsenthal,
Vulture,
26 Mar. 2026
-
Those leaders who ignore or flout the law aren’t merely unethical but fatally arrogant, putting their childish willfulness over the wisdom of generations.—
David Brooks,
The Atlantic,
25 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bossy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bossy. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
