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:
Several leaders were hoping to use Farage as a sort of bogeyman to encourage their own supporters out to vote, and to rally the tactical votes of those staunchly opposed to his party.
From BBC ● May 7, 2026
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
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
Consider buddleboy, bogeyman, bumboat man, flirter, higgler, pugger, muffleman, quarrel picker, spittle-maker, whiff-maker and willy man.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
He was the bogeyman our mothers invoked to urge us to finish our dinner.
From "Amal Unbound" by Aisha Saeed
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
Both are worldly, well into middle age, and both sense the need to explore their own catacombs and confront the bogeymen within.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2022
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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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
