bugaboo
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of bugaboo
Explanation
Use the noun bugaboo to describe something that causes worry, like the bugaboo of having three tests on the same day at school. Bugaboo is also another name for the creature known as the bogeyman, an imaginary monster that children believe will hurt them or even take them away if they don't behave. Some usage experts trace bugaboo to Scotland, where the now-obsolete word bogill meant "goblin, bugbear." A bugbear, in the 1580 coining of the word, was a demon that looked like a bear and ate small children.
Vocabulary lists containing bugaboo
Beowulf: A New Telling
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Vocabulary from "D.F.W.'s Favorite Grammarian"
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The Testaments
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mr, Robert T. Pell While M. Laval was reasonably sure that he could manage Josette, the Premier was quite sure that he could not manage the U. S. Press, a horrid BUGABOO.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
