- a variation of bogeyman.
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
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
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
He’s the only character who seems to like dinosaurs — everyone else sees them as dollar signs or boogeymen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 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
He needs as many boogeymen and vanquished foes as he can conjure.
From Slate ● Feb. 11, 2020
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
