boss

1 of 6

noun (1)

plural bosses
1
: a person who exercises control or authority
union bosses
a mafia boss
specifically : one who directs or supervises workers
asking your boss for a raise
2
politics : someone who controls votes in a party organization or dictates appointments or legislative measures
standing up to the party bosses
3
: a major antagonist in a game (such as a video game or board game) and usually one that must be overcome in order for a player to progress
At the start of each level players have 30 minutes to run around and beat the boss of the level.GameRant.com
It's a hard game, with a hard final boss, and watching video of people defeating it is so, so sweet.Cameron Kunzelman
often used before another noun
a boss fight/battle
boss characters
bossdom
ˈbȯs-dəm How to pronounce boss (audio)
ˈbäs-
noun
bossism noun

boss

2 of 6

verb (1)

bossed; bossing; bosses

transitive verb

1
: to give usually arbitrary orders to
usually used with around
Quit bossing me around.
2
: to exercise control or authority over : to act as boss (see boss entry 1) of
need someone to boss that job

boss

3 of 6

adjective

slang
: excellent, first-rate
a boss new rock band

boss

4 of 6

noun (2)

1
a
: a raised ornamentation (as on a belt or shield) : stud
b
: an ornamental projecting block used in architecture
c
: a protuberant part or body
a boss of granite
a boss on an animal's horn
2
: a soft pad used in ceramics and glassmaking
3
: the hub of a propeller

Illustration of boss

Illustration of boss
  • boss 1c

boss

5 of 6

verb (2)

bossed; bossing; bosses

transitive verb

1
: to embellish (something, such as a belt or shield) with a raised decoration : to ornament with bosses (see boss entry 4) : emboss
a bossed book cover
2
: to treat (something, such as the surface of porcelain) with a boss

boss

6 of 6

noun (3)

: cow, calf

Did you know?

The Dutch settlements in North America all came under English rule in the 1660s and 1670s, but Dutch continued to be spoken in the region long afterward. In American English, the lexical heritage of the Dutch colonies includes dope, stoop (meaning “porch”), and Santa Claus. Perhaps the most pervasive Dutch loanword is boss, from the Dutch baas, meaning “master.” The word first appears in the form boss in 1806, used by Washington Irving. Part of its success seems to have resulted from an American aversion to master, which was common in British use.

Examples of boss in a Sentence

Adjective a boss new rock band that's a really boss stereo you've got
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Seven other defendants from Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, and Hong Kong, including Kry’s boss, the general director of the Cambodian Forestry Administration, are at large. Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 25 Mar. 2024 What calculations the boss made are known only to him. Jason Kersten, Rolling Stone, 23 Mar. 2024 In a video shared this week to her YouTube page for Eat Predators, a movement created by Nikolas to end predatory behavior in the entertainment industry, the former child star reacted to Schneider voicing regret towards his actions as a boss. Tatiana Tenreyro, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Mar. 2024 Jude’s conclusion shows a real-time argument between the family Angela chooses for her public-service-announcement project and her production-company bosses who take the side of the corporation that accuses and argues just like government authoritarians. Armond White, National Review, 22 Mar. 2024 According to a survey by FlexJobs published in October, a majority of employees said remote work was more important to them than their salary, their work-life balance, and a good boss. Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 22 Mar. 2024 Under the gang’s power structure, bottom-rung cliques operate in regional tiers and zones, whose leaders report to street and prison bosses, who then report to the Ranfla Nacional. Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024 That move came after a 2014 internal investigation about toxic conditions on the set of the Grande/Jennette McCurdy show Sam & Kat resulted in hands-on boss Schneider no longer interacting with the series cast while being sequestered in his office. Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 13 Mar. 2024 The film tells the story of the Osage murders at the hands of crime boss William Hale (portrayed by Robert De Niro). Brendan Le, Peoplemag, 11 Mar. 2024
Verb
In August of that year, Mattson Tomlin boarded to co-write with Reeves, and in late January 2023, DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran gave the film a title and date of Oct. 3, 2025. Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Mar. 2024 As Fred Friendly, Murrow's co-producer and friend, Clooney playfully and respectfully bosses his employees around, giving a satisfying symmetry to his role on set and his character in the film. Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 23 Aug. 2023 Just avoid the temptation to boss other people around, as that could turn them off of your good advice. Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 23 Jan. 2024 Built in the adult-content creators’ image, the selfie-generating chatbots let viewers boss them around at all hours. Drew Harwell, Washington Post, 19 Dec. 2023 After Lost Kingdom, DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran will launch their own universe. Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Oct. 2023 Continuing her high-octane revitalizations of past hits, Demi Lovato is ready to boss herself up. Stephen Daw, Billboard, 18 Aug. 2023 Putin’s hubris is a lesson for all modern autocrats who are considering bossing around and humiliating their most powerful officials: Messiness doesn’t always equal loyalty. Ben Makuch, The New Republic, 26 July 2023 The discussion was essentially one of two Black bosses bossing up. Felice León, Essence, 18 July 2023
Adjective
Binning notes that Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of the Niles area, a former Traficant aide who won his ex-boss' congressional seat, was re-elected Tuesday by his smallest-ever margin, defeating GOP former state legislator Christina Hagan by 7.5 percentage points. Sabrina Eaton, cleveland, 6 Nov. 2020 This excludes things like putting in legendaries for end of mission rewards or taking them out of non-boss chests. Paul Tassi, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'boss.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

borrowed from Dutch baas "master, person in authority," earlier, "friend and master, head of a household," going back to Middle Dutch baes, used as a surname, of uncertain origin

Note: Compare late Middle Low German bas "superintendent of dikes," Frisian baas "master," the latter perhaps a loanword from Dutch. A relationship with Old High German basa "father's sister," German Base, name for various female relatives, is very unlikely. — The word boss was borrowed in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries from New York and New Jersey Dutch; as a name for a person in authority in Dutch it is already reported in New England in 1653—see citations in Oxford English Dictionary, first edition, and M. Mathews, Dictionary of Americanisms (though the alleged use by John Winthrop is most likely a misreading—see The Journal of John Winthrop 1630-1649 [Cambridge, 1996], p. 161). The adoption of Dutch long a as a rounded vowel is paralleled by dollar.

Verb (1)

derivative of boss entry 1

Adjective

derivative of boss entry 1

Noun (2)

Middle English boce, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *bottia

Verb (2)

derivative of boss entry 4

Noun (3)

English dialect, young cow

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1806, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (1)

1856, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Adjective

1836, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1c

Verb (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (3)

1790, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of boss was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near boss

Cite this Entry

“Boss.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boss. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

boss

1 of 5 noun
ˈbȯs How to pronounce boss (audio)
ˈbäs
: a raised rounded part often used ornamentally (as on a shield or a ceiling) : stud

boss

2 of 5 verb
: to ornament with bosses : emboss

boss

3 of 5 noun
ˈbȯs
1
: the person (as an employer or supervisor) who tells workers what to do
2
: the head of a group
especially : a powerful politician who controls party business
boss adjective

boss

4 of 5 verb
1
: to be in charge of
boss a job
2
: to give orders to
don't boss me around

boss

5 of 5 adjective
Etymology

Noun

Middle English boce "raised rounded part," from early French boce (same meaning)

Noun

from Dutch baas "master"

Medical Definition

boss

noun
: a protuberant part or body
a boss on an animal's horn

More from Merriam-Webster on boss

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