adjective / interjection
bully
Excellent or deserving praise, in old-fashioned speech.
The old sailor calls their successful plan a bully idea.
Etymology
Bully once served as an affectionate name for a sweetheart or good companion. The approving adjective preserves that favorable history, even though the noun later developed its familiar hostile meaning.
More examples
- Bully for you, he exclaimed when she announced her success.
- They had a bully time at the fair, as the old letter put it.
- The character's cheerful bully sounds distinctly old-fashioned.
Forms
bully
Similar words
- excellent
- Expresses similar praise in ordinary modern speech.