Bumptious is an adjective that means self-assertive to annoying degree.

It’s no coincidence that the first four letters in our word of the day come to the word ‘bump.’ Its origin is that it combines the word ‘bump’ with the word ‘fractious’ to means someone whose self-assertive personality can rub — or bump — people the wrong way. Here’s an example:

We all like James, but can he can be a little bumptious at times. In fact, his snugness is so great that we were all hoping he didn’t perform well at the bowling tournament — and he was on our team!