boss
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Someone who oversees and directs the work of others.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bahsIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɑs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A person who oversees and directs the work of others; a supervisor.
A leader, the head of an organized group or team.
A circular rounded projection or protuberance
A convex protuberance in hammered work, especially the rounded projection in the centre of a shield.
A swelling, lump or protuberance in an animal, person or object.
The head of a political party in a given region or district.
verb
transitive
To exercise authoritative control over; to tell (someone) what to do, often repeatedly.
transitive
To decorate with bosses; to emboss.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A person who oversees and directs the work of others; a supervisor.
Used this way, boss is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use boss
- “The boss hired three more men for the new job.”noun
- “He is his own boss now.”noun
- “Party bosses have a reputation for corruption.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Be bossy towards.
A leader in a political party who controls votes and dictates appointments.
A leader in a political party who controls votes and dictates appointments.
A member of a work gang who supervises the other workers.
The person responsible for driving a herd of cattle.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.