Meaning
In Irish English, bold can mean naughty, badly behaved, disobedient, or doing something that deserves a mild telling-off, especially when adults talk about children or childhood behaviour. This regional sense coexists with the wider English meaning confident, brave, or daring.
How it is used
Trinity College Dublin's guidance for international students glosses Irish bold as naughty and says it can describe a person or an activity. The Irish Times independently describes the characteristically Irish use as applying bold to misbehaving or unruly children, while noting that Irish speakers also retain the wider positive sense in phrases such as bold moves.
Examples
- “Don't be bold—leave your sister's sweets alone.”
- “He was a bit bold in class and had to stay behind.”
- “That was a bold thing to do, and I don't mean brave.”
Pronunciation
/boʊld/ · BOHLD
Tone and register
Often corrective or mildly disapproving, especially in family and school-related talk. It can also be affectionate or retrospective when adults describe childhood mischief. Context matters because the same adjective has a positive standard-English sense connected with courage, confidence, or daring.
Visitor guidance
Visitors should not assume that an Irish parent calling a child bold is praising confidence. In the relevant regional context it usually means naughty or misbehaving. The standard positive meaning remains available in Ireland too, so the noun being described and the surrounding situation determine which sense is intended.
Cultural context
Bold is a good example of regional semantic change hiding inside an extremely familiar English word. The Irish sense is ordinary enough to appear in parenting, school, family memories, and public commentary, which makes it more useful to explain as a meaning distinction than to package as novelty slang.
Places represented
Open the reviewed place guide for each regional sense carried by this canonical entry.