boo-boo

American

[boo-boo] / ˈbuˌbu /

noun

Slang.

plural

boo-boos

a minor injury; owie.

My dad was doing dishes and kissing boo-boos way back in the 1960s.
a stupid or silly mistake; blunder.

Even people with loads of sewing experience make boo-boos when creating a piece!

Synonyms:

slip-up, slip, screwup, goof, fumble, fluff, flub

boo-boo British

noun

informal an embarrassing mistake; blunder

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of boo-boo

An Americanism dating back to 1950–55; baby talk

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.

Widely ridiculed on social media for his lack of knowledge, Mr Harris apologised for what he described as an "awful boo-boo".

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2024

It might be your internet company’s fault, a boo-boo with your home equipment or interference from your neighbor’s Call of Duty game night.

From Washington Post • Mar. 3, 2023

“Then everybody put a boo-boo on that. They said: ‘What are you doing, ratting on about that?’

From The Guardian • Mar. 23, 2020

“We love and miss you, boo-boo and Gigi,” she said to them.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2020

And I sob like a traumatized toddler with a boo-boo on her knee.

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023