Okay, English word game of the day: Synonyms for bullying.
Last edited Fri May 28, 2021, 08:54 PM - Edit history (3)
I'm looking for words that describe the hostile, but not quite physically aggressive human behavior that you see in every day life. More like subtle, or just over subtle ways of sending messages to "Don't tread on me."
In my world that would include teeth grimacing, stare-downs, lean-intos, and one peculiar behavior that I suspect was meant to show the amount of support the "good ole boy network" had for each other. For example, I once tried to use a Borders to do some journal writing and I took a seat at a large table, because I had some items to spread out. This was not uncommon. The Borders, I discovered, was a favorite place to do homework for college students, and old retiree military who spent far too much time peeping over the tops of their magazines. Anyway, from my seat at the table, I glanced up once and saw the manager of the Borders look at me, and I swear he scowled at me. "No," I said to myself. It's in my imagination. Not fifteen minutes later, I saw my hostile next door neighbor sitting across from me, giving me the stare-down. I call it a stare-down, though that's what it looks like from my pov. I wonder what he thought he was going to do next? Maybe whatever it was worked, because I collected my things and only tried the Borders one more time, when something equally strange occurred. But that was after 9/11, when everyone seemed to be in constant vigil mode.
So, this guy was definitely over the top hostile. Not only did he sic his dog on my dog two times, and never called the dog back, but he also almost clobbered me with a well-hit golf ball. These things were so extreme, that I almost forgot about everything else. And I don't want to forget, because in this zero sum game we have going in small town America, everything should count.
I just need to find the right words. Anything that can help me find better ways of describing "stare-downs" and "lean-intos" would be helpful. Anything short of physical aggression.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Trumpish 
Very helpful. Thank you.
... like when a person's demeanor inspires fear in everyone around that person, he (or she) is menacing.
A bully could be someone who actually lays a punch or grabs onto someone. A menace would be someone who deliberately causes fear, without actually touching another person.
