Meaning & use
pushy person
Last updated
Meanings
phrasecountabledisapproving
Someone who tries too hard and too rudely to get what they want from other people.
Grammar: Countable phrase: you can say 'a pushy person' or 'two pushy people' (the plural of 'person' is usually 'people').
Patterns
- a pushy person who does something
- be a pushy person
- come across as a pushy person
He's a pushy person who phones the office three times a day until he gets an answer.
She didn't want to seem like a pushy person, so she waited to be invited.
Being a pushy person can help in sales, but it can also drive customers away.
phrasepluraldisapproving
Used generally, not about one individual, to mean people of this kind.
Grammar: Used without 'a' to talk about such people as a group: 'Pushy people annoy me.'
Patterns
- pushy people tend to do something
Pushy people often get served first, which is not always fair.
In a crowded market, pushy people stand out and quieter ones get ignored.
Word forms
| plural | pushy people |
|---|
Common combinations
- a pushy salesperson
- A pushy salesperson kept calling even after I said no.
- pushy parents
- Pushy parents sometimes put too much pressure on their children.
- come across as pushy
- He comes across as pushy even when he means well.
- too pushy
- The waiter was friendly but not too pushy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- aggressive
- Stronger and more negative; it suggests a willingness to fight or intimidate, while 'pushy' is mainly about being annoyingly insistent.
- insistent
- More neutral and formal; it describes repeating a request firmly, without the rude, self-serving tone that 'pushy' carries.
- bold
- Can be approving when it means confident and brave; 'pushy' is almost always critical.
Opposites
Word family
- pushiness noun
- The quality of being pushy: 'Her pushiness put people off.'
- push verb
- To press or urge; the base idea behind 'pushy'.
- pushily adverb
- In a pushy manner: 'He pushily asked for a discount.'
Commonly confused: pushy person or pushful?
pushy person vs pushful
A rare word with a similar meaning; 'pushy' is the normal choice in everyday English.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'pushy person' most naturally?
Choose one answer.
'A pushy person' needs the article 'a' and describes someone who is too insistent, so option 0 fits. Option 1 misuses 'of' as if it meant membership; option 2 has no verb structure; option 3 drops the article and contradicts the meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pushy person”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.