# bold

Pronunciation: say "BOHLD" US /boʊld/, UK /ˈbəʊld/

## Adjective

1. Showing courage and a readiness to take risks or face danger.
   - Simple: Willing to take risks and face danger without being afraid.
   - _The general's bold attack caught the enemy completely off guard._
   - _Her bold decision to quit a secure job surprised everyone who knew her._
2. Standing out clearly to the eye; visually striking and conspicuous.
   - Simple: Strong and easy to see because of bright color or a clear shape.
   - _The designer chose a bold pattern for the living room curtains._
   - _Bold graphics covered the entire front of the magazine._
3. Printed with thicker strokes than the regular form of a typeface, making the text stand out.
   - Simple: Printed with thicker, darker letters so the words stand out.
   - _The editor used bold headings to set them apart from the body text._
   - _Each key term is bold on its first appearance in the chapter._
4. Of food or drink, having a strong, rich, and distinctive flavor.
   - Simple: Having a strong, rich taste that fills your mouth.
   - _The sommelier recommended a bold red to match the grilled steak._
   - _Their house blend is darker and bolder than most of the others._
5. Behaving in a forward, presumptuous, or disrespectful way.
   - Simple: Rude and too confident in a way that shows no respect.
   - _Her bold remark about the host's cooking embarrassed everyone at the table._
   - _It was rather bold of him to help himself to a drink before being offered one._
7. Naughty, insolent, and badly behaved. *(Ireland)*
   - Simple: Behaving badly and refusing to do what you are told.
   - _Their bold youngest son was always talking back to the adults._
   - _The teacher scolded the bold pupils for their cheek._
8. Rising or falling steeply; abrupt in slope.
   - Simple: Rising or dropping very sharply and steeply.
   - _A bold headland rose almost straight out of the sea._
   - _The ridge ends in a bold slope that drops almost sheer to the valley floor._
9. Pornographic in nature; depicting nudity or explicit sexual content. *(Philippines)*
   - Simple: Showing naked bodies or sexual content.
   - _Her parents never let her watch bold movies on cable._
   - _Censors cut the bolder scenes from the evening broadcast._

## Verb

6. To make a font or piece of text appear in heavier strokes. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To make text thicker and darker so it stands out.
   - _Bold the key terms before you print the handout for the class._
   - _She bolded the deadline in the email so nobody would miss it._

## Verb

10. To make someone bold or daring, or to become bold or brave. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old word meaning to make someone brave, or to become brave.

## Noun

11. A dwelling, habitation, or building. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A place where someone lives, such as a house or building.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–5, 7–9** — From Middle English bold, from Old English bald, beald ("bold, brave, confident"), from Proto-Germanic *balþaz ("strong, bold"), from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to swell." It is related to Dutch boud ("bold") and Swedish båld ("dauntless"), and perhaps to Albanian ballë ("forehead").
**Meanings 6, 10** — Proto-Germanic *balþōną, which was related to *balþaz (the source of the adjective), gave Old English baldian or bealdian and then Middle English bolden. Old High German irbaldōn, meaning to dare or become bold, is a cognate.
**Meaning 11** — From Middle English bold, from Old English bold, botl ("house, dwelling, hall, castle"), from Proto-Germanic *budlą ("house, dwelling"), from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to grow, swell." It is cognate with Old Frisian bold ("house") and related to build.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bold (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).