boogeyman
Americannoun
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.
What Mr. Ahamed withholds are the strong, respectable arguments to embrace, not to shun, the boogeyman that Federal Reserve economists style “deflation” but that a layman might rather recognize as human progress.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
Artificial intelligence could be the boogeyman that gnaws at market share.
From Barron's • Feb. 4, 2026
Was Deen really an early victim of the fictitious celebrity boogeyman now known as “cancel culture,” or was she appropriately harangued?
From Salon • Sep. 7, 2025
Craig said the characters’ frequent misinterpretations took on the role of the “monster,” since this is a horror movie without a true boogeyman.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2025
The other part runs screaming worse than a four-year-old begging her mama to chase the boogeyman out of the closet and off to a place where bad dreams don’t exist.
From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
