Bully Pulpit Definition & Meaning

American

Etymology

Examples

bully pulpit American [bool-ee pool-pit, puhl-pit] / ˈbʊl i ˈpʊl pɪt, ˈpʌl pɪt /

noun

1. a position of authority or public visibility, especially a political office, from which one may express one's views.

Etymology

Origin of bully pulpit

First recorded in 1905–10; from a remark made by President Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the U.S. 1901–09, in reference to the White House, “I suppose my critics will call that preaching, but I have got such a bully pulpit!”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Roosevelt’s challenge to Wall Street, he writes, “was largely a bully pulpit affair, with rhetoric exceeding action.”

From The Wall Street Journal

“She’s going to have a bully pulpit, and she can talk to moms about how to care for their kids, what kind of food to give them.”

From The Wall Street Journal

It can also lean on the bully pulpit, issuing public statements, or launch a defect investigation, which can take months to complete and possibly lead to a recall.

From The Wall Street Journal

“I don’t fault you for that … but you do have a weapon — it’s a bully pulpit.”

From Los Angeles Times

Most people don’t have the resources or the bully pulpit of a pope.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.