boogeyman
Americannoun
plural
boogeymenEtymology
Origin of boogeyman
First recorded in 1840–50
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.
The Cowork announcement is “the latest Boogeyman in software,” William Blair analyst Arjun Bhatia wrote in a research note on Thursday, saying the selloff “seems overdone.”
From Barron's • Jan. 15, 2026
“He was self-aware that this movie being about the Boogeyman, we’re dealing with something that is very well-known,” says Thatcher.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2023
Decades after John Carpenter’s slasher landmark, David Gordon Green has resurrected the faceless Boogeyman of “Halloween” and set him loose on another Halloween night, 40 years later.
From Washington Times • Oct. 15, 2018
In one of Coupland’s works, called Boogeyman in the Sky with Diamonds – the black-on-black image coated with stars – Bin Laden is barely there, but he’s totally there.
From The Guardian • Sep. 10, 2014
Some had taken to calling him Babalu, or Boogeyman.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
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.
