boogeyman

American

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

noun

boogeymen

First recorded in 1840–50

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Artificial intelligence could be the boogeyman that gnaws at market share.

From Barron's

And it would give the Bills another chance to really get over their boogeyman.

From The Wall Street Journal

“But to me he was like a real boogeyman. That stayed in my mind.”

From Los Angeles Times

Was Deen really an early victim of the fictitious celebrity boogeyman now known as “cancel culture,” or was she appropriately harangued?

From Salon

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