Word
Definitions
01to protest by refusing to buy
B2 · Upper Intermediate
v. to refuse to buy something or take part in an activity to show that you disagree with a company or government.
v. to abstain from using, buying, or dealing with an organisation or country as an expression of protest. Transitive; requires a direct object representing the entity being avoided.
“Many people decided to boycott the clothing brand after learning about its poor factory conditions.”
“Environmental activists urged the public to boycott the energy conglomerate until it committed to a verifiable carbon-reduction strategy.”
Usage
Always used with a direct object; you boycott a company, a product, or an event.
02an organised protest
B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun
n. an organised effort where people stop buying or using something to force a change.
n. the act or an instance of boycotting a particular entity or product. Countable; often used with the definite article or in the plural.
“The bus boycott lasted for over a year and eventually led to a change in the law.”
“The international boycott of the regime's exports significantly weakened its economic standing and forced a return to the negotiating table.”
Teaching tip
Remind students that the word comes from Captain Boycott, a 19th-century land agent who was the first famous target of this tactic.
Real-World Examples
“But since late 2024, "my family and I have completely decided to boycott the United States", he told BBC.” “The boycott has meant a loss of about C$3.3bn ($2.35bn; £1.75bn) in travel revenue for the US last year.” Etymology
Etymology tree English Charles Boycott English boycott From Charles Boycott, an English evicting land agent in Ireland who was subject to a boycott organized by the Irish Land League in 1880. For the surname see Boycott.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.B2 FirstIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.5.5–6.5TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 4.0–4.572–94TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.785–944
- Frequency
- Frequent
- Level
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Updated
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QR code
englishreference.com/q/boycott
「カタカナ語」 data: JMdict (EDRDG), CC BY-SA 4.0
‘외래어’ data: 한국어기초사전 (국립국어원), CC BY-SA 2.0 KR