throw weight around
Leverage status aggressively
To throw weight around is to use one's power or influence aggressively, often to intimidate or get one's way: The new manager started throwing his weight around on day one.
The image is of a large person using physical size to dominate—extended to anyone leveraging authority, status, or resources to push others around.
- bullyHabitual intimidator
- dominateControl through superior strength
- intimidateInstill fear to control
- cloutInformal power or punch
- muscleContractile body tissue
boss · pull rank · leverage · influence · big shot · swagger · bluster · pushy · alpha · alpha male · top dog · pressure · strongarm · power play · flex · power · assert · call the shots
- power idiomspull strings, hold sway, call the shots, power play, upper hand
- lord it overbully, intimidate, dominate, oppress, tyrannize
- powerauthority, electric power, nuclear power, solar power, wind power
throw weight arounddefer
Delay or submit
kowtow · submit · yield · bow down · take a back seat
throw weight aroundkeep a low profile
Remain unnoticed deliberately
lead by example · step back · hang back · withdraw · recede
throw, weight, around, thrown, throwing, throws, weigh, weighs, weighed