What does bossy mean?
"Bossy" is an adjective describing someone who habitually tells other people what to do in an overbearing, domineering manner, especially without any real authority to justify it. A bossy sibling, colleague, or friend insists on having their own way, issuing instructions and correcting others, often in a petty or officious fashion. The word derives from "boss," a term for a person in charge that entered American English from the Dutch "baas" (master) via early colonial contact, and it carries a distinctly informal, colloquial flavor. Connotations are generally negative but range from mild teasing — as when describing a child who likes to take charge — to sharper criticism of controlling behavior. Since the 2010s, some commentators have noted that "bossy" is applied more readily to assertive girls and women than to equally forceful boys and men, making it a word whose social weight is actively debated even as its core meaning remains firmly established.
Fond of giving orders and telling others what to do in an overbearing way.
"Nobody liked working under such a bossy supervisor."
Often softened with "a bit" or "rather" when used in mild criticism.
(Chiefly US dialect) a cow or heifer, especially a dairy cow.
"The old bossy grazed quietly at the edge of the pasture."
This sense is regional and largely confined to rural American speech.
Applies only to the rare dialectal noun meaning a cow.
"The farm's bossies were let out at dawn."
"Bossy" started life as American slang built on "boss" — a word Americans borrowed from Dutch settlers' "baas," meaning master.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bossy
The adjective "bossy" was formed in American English in the first half of the nineteenth century by adding the adjectival suffix "-y" to "boss." The root "boss" itself came into American English in the seventeenth century from Dutch "baas," meaning "master" or "overseer," likely spread through New Netherland and later popularized nationwide. A separate, unrelated noun "bossy," meaning a young cow or heifer, also developed in American dialect from the same suffix pattern applied to "boss" in its livestock sense. Related forms such as "bossily" and "bossiness" followed naturally.
Related word forms
How bossy is actually used
Informal to neutral in register; often used of children or in light criticism, but can carry genuine disapproval. In some varieties, notably in feminist discourse since the 2010s, "bossy" has been criticized as disproportionately applied to assertive girls and women, prompting campaigns like "Ban Bossy." The noun sense referring to a cow survives mainly in rural American dialect and in the compound "bossy cow."