bogeyman
Americannoun
-
bogeymen
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bogeyman
First recorded in 1885–90; bogey 1 (variant of bogy 1, in the sense “a hobgoblin, evil spirit”) + man
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.
See Examples For:
Both cast debt as a bogeyman turning capitalism into an extraction device that, left unchecked or unwisely channeled, can take everything from any of us.
From Salon ● May 4, 2026
When FDA rejections draw criticism, he uses “industry” as a bogeyman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026
He embraced the role of migra bogeyman like a tween boy scarfing down a bowl of Warheads, always promising more deportations, more chaos, more more.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2026
This particular European bogeyman dates back to 2014, when the U.S. and the European Union were negotiating a trans-Atlantic trade agreement.
From Slate ● Feb. 13, 2026
“Now, now, sweetie,” Pa said to Miss Hendrix, the same way he told Fern, “Now, now baby girl. Ain’t no bogeyman in the radiator pipe.”
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
Still, Kimmel’s comment was at worst an anodyne observation touching on the fact that the accused, a white guy from Utah, did not fit the archetypes of typical far-right bogeymen.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2025
But that angst can be projected onto bogeymen.
From Salon ● May 8, 2023
In unflattering media coverage, the bogeymen comparisons veer from the Grinch to the Hood, the bald-headed, bushy-eyebrowed baddie from 1960s puppet TV series.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2022
Historically, Australia are NZ’s bogeymen, with 14 wins to four in white-ball tournaments involving five or more teams.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 14, 2021
Maureen, who was four and had a terrible fear of bogeymen, kept dreaming that intruders in Halloween masks were coming through the open doors to get us.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
