BOSSES Synonyms: 125 Similar and Opposite Words

bosses 1 of 2

noun

plural of boss

as in leaders

the person (as an employer or supervisor) who tells people and especially workers what to do every morning the boss hands out a list of top-priority tasks

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

bosses

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of boss

as in supervises

to be in charge of she bossed that project for years, until she was promoted again

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in rules

to exercise authority or power over bossed the entire job site for a year

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in leads

to serve as leader of bossed the entire gang of electricians on the construction project

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of bosses

Noun

His job was to cut and paste responses from scripts his scam bosses generated. — ABC News, 30 June 2026 Don’t get sucked into arguments with bosses or supervisors. — Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 26 June 2026 Some bosses are demanding, disorganized or poor communicators but still want their teams to succeed. — Caroline Castrillon, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026 Soaring through skies, dodging obstacles, and shooting tiny robots and giant bosses felt great in the original release, so none of that needed significant changes. — Will Greenwald, PC Magazine, 27 June 2026 No country has ever won the World Cup under a manager or head coach born outside its borders, yet this tournament features more teams with non-native bosses than in any previous edition. — Gregg Evans, New York Times, 28 June 2026 Back in 2023—right when companies were bringing down the RTO hammer—the business leader argued that workers who go into the office will get a career boost by demonstrating their value to bosses. — Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 30 June 2026 New laws in California, Colorado, Connecticut and Illinois seek to curb AI bias, rein in ‘robo bosses’ and protect children from opaque, emotionally manipulative chatbots. — Marc Levy, Los Angeles Times, 21 June 2026 After a cameo in 2025’s Superman, Alcock returns as Supergirl for the second big-screen feature in the DC slate cooked up by bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran. — Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 26 June 2026

Verb

No harm, no foul — as long as the commission bosses back the changes, Zelden said. — Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel, 21 Apr. 2026 Dano and Collette joined co-stars Abigail Breslin and Greg Kinnear and their director bosses Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris at the screening. — Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bosses

Noun

In response to what state leaders describe as threats from the federal government, the Minnesota Department of Human Services began the major task of revalidating 5,472 providers across various service programs deemed at high risk for fraud.

— Conor Wight, CBS News, 2 July 2026
This disconnect stems from a lack of psychological safety, where leaders fear speaking up or challenging ideas.

— Tracy Lawrence, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026

Definition of leaders

Verb

Milshtein previously served as adviser to COGAT, which supervises civilian policy in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

— Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 19 May 2026
As chief of patrol, Hein supervises the most visible aspects of the Police Department that define its image in the minds of most Chicagoans, including emergency response, crisis intervention, traffic control, routine patrol and community policing efforts.

— Caroline Kubzansky, Chicago Tribune, 16 May 2026

Definition of supervises

Verb

The California Foster Youth Bill of Rights comes into play when deciding what rules the county can place on the youths.

— Theresa Clift July 2, Sacbee.com, 2 July 2026
The city has also been fighting Miami-Dade County rules around transit stations that allow developers to substantially scale up residential and commercial projects.

— Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 1 July 2026

Definition of rules

Verb

Their searching leads them to countless people, from journalists to police officials to a growing team of internet sleuths, who are compassionate and generous with their time.

— Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026
Also on hand was Formula 1 racer Kimi Antonelli, who leads the drivers' standings despite a disappointing result in Sunday's British Grand Prix.

— ABC News, ABC News, 6 July 2026

Definition of leads

Noun

Customers were very important; workers, foremen.

— Michael Kilian, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
For years after that, TCU alums who had served as Ranch Week foremen or queen would proudly include it on resumes, in professional biographies or when running for office.

— Matt Leclercq, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Aug. 2025

Definition of foremen

Verb

This 12-jurist body oversees the activities of Iran’s parliament, determining if laws passed are compatible with sharia and can demand that legislation be revised.

— Xiaoqian Lin, CNN Money, 6 July 2026
The Alamo Trust, the nonprofit organization that oversees the Alamo Mission, announced the discovery on June 16.

— Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2026

Definition of oversees

Verb

The Clean Air Act is the federal law that regulates air emissions from stationary and mobile sources and governs air pollution.

— Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 3 July 2026
Organizers ruled North American country could compete after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which governs the song contest, allowed the CBC/Radio-Canada fully into its fold last week.

— Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 2 July 2026

Definition of governs

Verb

The complaint also accuses G-MAC of violating Title IX, a federal law that commands gender equity in college sports.

— Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 6 July 2026
Meanwhile, Lord Corlys Velaryon and his fleet have the city blockaded, while Team Black commands from Dragonstone and Daemon battles in the Riverlands and Aemond broods on the throne, which he’s taken from his maimed brother.

— Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 5 July 2026