Synonyms

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.

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

Then, if he jumps from bed to bed and gets a little boo-boo, ‘That’s what you get.’

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 6, 2019

A look back at some of the stories we covered this week, from the return of Worzel Gummidge to an Olivier Awards boo-boo.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2018

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