Bully vs Insult - What's the difference?
bully | insult |
A person who is cruel to others, especially those who are weaker or have less power.
A noisy, blustering fellow, more insolent than courageous; one who is threatening and quarrelsome; an insolent, tyrannical fellow.
* Palmerston
A hired thug.
A prostitute’s minder; a pimp.
(uncountable) Bully beef.
(obsolete) A brisk, dashing fellow.
The small scrum in the Eton College field game.
A small freshwater fish.
To intimidate (someone) as a bully.
To act aggressively towards.
* {{quote-news, year=2011
, date=January 15
, author=Sam Sheringham
, title=Chelsea 2 -03 Blackburn Rovers
, work=BBC
(US, slang) Very good; excellent.
(slang) Jovial and blustering; dashing.
* Shakespeare
(often, followed by for) Well done!
(obsolete) To behave in an obnoxious and superior manner (over, against).
*, II.3.3:
To offend (someone) by being rude, insensitive or insolent; to demean or affront (someone).
(obsolete) To leap or trample upon; to make a sudden onset upon.
An action or form of speech deliberately intended to be rude.
* Savage
* 1987 , Jamie Lee Curtis, A Fish Called Wanda :
Anything that causes offence/offense, e.g. by being of an unacceptable quality.
(medicine) Something causing disease or injury to the body or bodily processes.
* 2006 , Stephen G. Lomber, Jos J. Eggermont, Reprogramming the Cerebral Cortex (page 415)
* 2011 , Terence Allen and Graham Cowling, The Cell: A Very Short Introduction , Oxford 2011, p. 96:
(obsolete) The act of leaping on; onset; attack.
In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between bully and insult
is that bully is (obsolete) a brisk, dashing fellow while insult is (obsolete) the act of leaping on; onset; attack.In lang=en terms the difference between bully and insult
is that bully is to act aggressively towards while insult is to offend (someone) by being rude, insensitive or insolent; to demean or affront (someone).As nouns the difference between bully and insult
is that bully is a person who is cruel to others, especially those who are weaker or have less power while insult is an action or form of speech deliberately intended to be rude.As verbs the difference between bully and insult
is that bully is to intimidate (someone) as a bully while insult is (obsolete|intransitive) to behave in an obnoxious and superior manner (over, against).As an adjective bully
is (us|slang) very good; excellent.As an interjection bully
is (often|followed by for) well done!.bully
English
(wikipedia bully)Noun
- A playground bully pushed a girl off the swing.
- I noticed you being a bully towards people with disabilities.
- Bullies seldom execute the threats they deal in.
- "Bully Bottom" from A Midsummer Night's Dream, III, i, 6.
Synonyms
* (hired thug) henchman, thug * (pimp) pimp, ponceVerb
(en-verb)- You shouldn't bully people for being gay.
citation, page= , passage=The Potters know their strengths and played to them perfectly here, out-muscling Bolton in midfield and bullying the visitors' back-line at every opportunity. }}
Synonyms
* (intimidate) browbeat, hector, intimidate, ride roughshod over * (act aggressively toward) push around, ride roughshod overAdjective
(er)- a bully horse
- Bless thee, bully doctor.
Synonyms
* (excellent) excellent, marvellous/marvelous, splendid, super, superb, top-notchDerived terms
* bully boy * bully pulpitInterjection
(en interjection)- She's finally leaving her abusive husband — bully for her!
Synonyms
* bravo, well done, see also .insult
English
Verb
(en verb)- thou hast lost all, poor thou art, dejected, in pain of body, grief of mind, thine enemies insult over thee, thou art as bad as Job […].
- (Shakespeare)
Synonyms
* (to offend) abuse, affront, offend, slight * See alsoAntonyms
*complimentNoun
(en noun)- the ruthless sneer that insult adds to grief
- To call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people!
- The way the orchestra performed tonight was an insult to my ears.
- Within the complex genome of most organisms there are alternative multiple pathways of proteins which can help the individual cell survive a variety of insults , for example radiation, toxic chemicals, heat, excessive or reduced oxygen.
- (Dryden)