boogeyman
Americannoun
-
boogeymen
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of boogeyman
First recorded in 1840–50
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:
The boogeyman at the center of all this calmly poured a cup of joe for a recent visitor to his shop, which sits below his family’s cabin outside Petersburg.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Artificial intelligence could be the boogeyman that gnaws at market share.
From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026
"I wasn't satisfied with just imagining this evil boogeyman who had done a horrible thing to me," she explained.
From Salon ● Apr. 14, 2025
With Moses as boogeyman, we are spared the more challenging question: Why did his worst decisions seem like such great ideas to so many people in the first place?
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2024
Vonetta didn’t notice, or she pretended she didn’t notice, but Fern had stopped clinging to Uncle D. Fern heard him hollering at night like the boogeyman howling and rattling in the radiator pipes.
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
While the heroes in “A God-Shaped Nation” are refreshing in their diversity, the boogeymen are all too familiar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
One of the biggest boogeymen around these days is ultraprocessed food.
From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2026
The modern world is beset by boogeymen: pandemics, gun violence, floods, fires.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2025
What we do not enjoy, however, is the pesky presence of well-known boogeymen like raw egg and flour, which are obviously not two items that should be eaten with such vigor.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2023
They’re also conjuring boogeymen, even though the real culprits are tech giants.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 2, 2022
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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.
