boogeyman

American

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

noun

plural

boogeymen

bogeyman.

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.

The market is seeing a boogeyman that frankly doesn’t exist.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 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

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