Bossy means always telling other people what to do. A bossy child, don't be bossy, bossy older sister.
It is applied to girls and women far more than to men doing the same thing, which is why campaigns have argued for retiring it. It describes manner rather than authority: a boss is not bossy unless the manner is unpleasant.
1adjectivebossyAlways telling other people what to do.
“My older sister was so bossy that she even told me how to hold my fork.”
bossy is a quality.
Boss plus -y. Boss comes from Dutch baas, a master, and reached English through New York.
Dutch
baas
English
boss
English, today
bossy
From boss + -y. boss Borrowed from Dutch baas. Borrowed from Dutch baas, from Middle Dutch baes (“master of a household, friend”), from Old Dutch baso (“uncle, kinsman”), from Proto-West Germanic baswō, from Proto-Germanic baswô (“uncle”), perhaps from Proto-Germanic bō- (“father, older male relative”), source also of the English terms babe, boy, bub, bully. Cognate with Middle Low German bās (“supervisor, foreman”), Old Frisian bas (“master”), hence stq Boas (“boss”), Old High German basa (“father's sister, cousin”), hence German Base (“aunt, cousin”). Originally a term of respect used to address an older relative. Later, in New Amsterdam, it began to mean a person in charge who is not a master.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA