bugaboo

[ buhg-uh-boo ]

noun

, plural bug·a·boos.

1. something that causes fear or worry; bugbear; bogy.

bugaboo

/ ˈbʌɡəˌbuː /

noun

1. an imaginary source of fear; bugbear; bogey

Word History and Origins

Origin of bugaboo¹

1730–40; earlier buggybow. See bogy ¹, boo ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of bugaboo¹

C18: probably of Celtic origin; compare Cornish buccaboo the devil

Example Sentences

Gwyneth Paltrow wheeled her daughter Apple around London in a Bugaboo pram.

From The Daily Beast

Not exactly a Bugaboo, sure, but it does have a nifty one-hand folding feature and weighs only 11 pounds.

From The Daily Beast

Indeed, the coming LGBT tyranny is a long-standing bugaboo for Porter.

From The Daily Beast

Can we return the souped-up Bugaboo strollers and turn off the shiny iPhone rattles in favor of simpler tools for raising a child?

From The Daily Beast

Over-optimistic forecasts, coupled with underperformance, have long been a GM bugaboo.

From The Daily Beast

I want to tell you not to fear this bugaboo of interstate competition.

From Project Gutenberg

All sorts of atrocities ensued, and Black Hawk's name became a household bugaboo the country over.

From Project Gutenberg

The old bugaboo about earthquakes throwing it down is a danger that exists only in the minds of those who see ghosts.

From Project Gutenberg

Such men find it easy to transform into a bugaboo any one who appears to them to be acting irregularly.

From Project Gutenberg

They both had a good laugh, for they feared nothing in this Universe; least of all that great bugaboo, poverty.

From Project Gutenberg