alpha-dog

present singular third person alpha-dogs · participle present alpha-dogging · participle past alpha-dogged · past alpha-dogged

1. USinformalTo behave like an alpha dog; to behave in a crassly dominant manner, especially at the expense of another male.

   Stormy boasts that she has “grown balls”. Given her “alpha-dogging” of Trump and her jokes about his furry sporran, who knows whether this is more than a metaphor?

   2018 October 22, Peter Conrad, “Full Disclosure by Stormy Daniels review – duck, Donald…”, in The Guardian

   2 more examples

   At the left was Mr. Trump, the volatile presence who alpha-dogged a season of Republican debates. Now he grimaced, squinted, nodded, pursed his lips, sniffed, huffed and interrupted, becoming, over the night, an agitated man in a box.

   2016 September 27, James Poniewozik, “How the Split Screen Framed Trump and Clinton”, in The New York Times

   Harper Spiller (Aubrey Plaza): And I don't know, I guess, I just don't want him rubbing off on you. You know, and I don't like the way he alpha-dogs you. Ethan Spiller (Will Sharpe): He doesn't alpha-dog me. I mean, he kind of used to, I guess, but it's different now.

   2022 November 6, Mike White, “Italian Dream”, in Mike White, director, The White Lotus, season 2, episode 2, via HBO