bogeyman

American  

[boog-ee-man, boh-gee-, boo-] / ˈbʊg iˌmæn, ˈboʊ gi-, ˈbu- /

South Midland and Southern U.S., boogeyman or bogyman

noun

• bogeymen
  plural

1. an imaginary evil character of supernatural powers, especially a mythical hobgoblin supposed to carry off naughty children.

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bogeyman British  

/ ˈbəʊɡɪˌmæn /

noun

1. a person, real or imaginary, used as a threat, esp to children

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• bogeymen
  plural

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

See Examples For:

bogeyman bogeymen

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

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

Genetics seems to be the big driver, reinforcing the argument that autism is a normal human variation and there is no Big Pharma bogeyman at the heart of this issue.

From Slate ● Sep. 25, 2025

Nicolas Cage plays the film’s titular bogeyman — but you wouldn’t necessarily know that from the marketing materials, which deliberately obscure the actor’s face.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2024

“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

Once you start to see bogeymen in one place, it's easy to see them everywhere.

From Salon ● Mar. 15, 2025

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

The real-life Jewell endured a nightmare, but the cautionary tale that the movie inadvertently tells is about only being able to see ancient bogeymen as new monsters continue to emerge.

From Slate ● Dec. 9, 2019

But is this a case of seeing Russian bogeymen where there are none?

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2018

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