Dictionary

bolshie en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɒl.ʃi/ (UK)

Etymology

From Bolshevik (Russian большеви́к (bolʹševík), the socialist party in the 1918 Russian Revolution, from Russian большевики́ (bolʹševikí, “majority faction”), + -ie.

Meanings

1. (UK) Difficult or rebellious.
   • Rachel came in, and Nick felt he'd been caught larking about, Catherine squashing him like some bolshie teenage attempt at seduction. 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 16, in The Line of Beauty […], London: Picador, →ISBN:
   • It's quite possible that I and my pals were nasty bolshy little schoolboys who thoroughly deserved to be thrashed through the gorse bushes in the dead of the night[.] 1983, Bill Oddie, Gone Birding, London: Methuen, page 108:
   • "How I looked or what I was wearing had become more import than my politics, " the 65-year-old told BBC Wales Breakfast. "I can be bolshie if I'm fighting for a cause or for someone else, but deep down I'm very sensitive." 2026 January 2, Nathan Bevan, “Weight-loss jabs MP faced 'constant cruel abuse' from trolls”, in BBC News:
   • Kate, don't be so bolshie!

Forms

Relateds

bolshiness · Bolshevik

Synonyms

contrary · contumacious · recalcitrant · perverse

bolshie en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɒl.ʃi/ (UK)

Etymology

From Bolshevik (Russian большеви́к (bolʹševík), the socialist party in the 1918 Russian Revolution, from Russian большевики́ (bolʹševikí, “majority faction”), + -ie.

Meanings

1. (UK, dated, derogatory) A government leftist, especially a communist, socialist, or labour union leader.

Forms