buggy

¹

[buhg-ee]

adjective

buggier, buggiest 

1. infested with bugs.

   We spent one last muggy, buggy summer at the campsite up North, then started vacationing in the Southwest.

2. Computers.,  (of software) containing errors or imperfections that reduce reliability, performance, or user experience.

   The game’s load times were slow, and the autosave was buggy.

3. Slang.,  crazy; insane; peculiar.

buggy

²

[buhg-ee]

noun

plural

buggies 

1. a light, four-wheeled, horse-drawn carriage with a single seat and a transverse spring.

2. (in India) a light, two-wheeled carriage with a folding top.

3. baby carriage.

4. Older Slang.,  an automobile, especially an old or dilapidated one.

5. a small wagon or truck for transporting heavy materials, as coal in a mine or freshly mixed concrete at a construction site, for short distances.

6. Metallurgy.,  a car, as for transporting ingots or charges for open-hearth furnaces.

7. any of various small vehicles adapted for use on a given terrain, as on sand beaches or swamps.

8. British.,  a light, two-wheeled, open carriage.

buggy

¹

/ ˈbʌɡɪ /

noun

1. a light horse-drawn carriage having either four wheels (esp in the US and Canada) or two wheels (esp in Britain and India)

2. short for beach buggy

3. short for Baby Buggy See baby carriage

4. a small motorized vehicle designed for a particular purpose

   golf buggy

   moon buggy

buggy

²

/ ˈbʌɡɪ /

adjective

1. infested with bugs

2. slang,  insane

3. informal,  (of a system or machine, esp a computer program) containing errors or faults

Other Word Forms

• bugginess noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of buggy¹

First recorded in 1690–1700; bug ¹ + -y ¹

Origin of buggy²

First recorded in 1750–60; of obscure origin

Word History and Origins

Origin of buggy¹

C18: of unknown origin

Example Sentences

The slow-moving ride shuttles guests on “doom buggies,” which are seats that travel approximately one mile an hour.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

So it will be golf buggy rather than bag for captain Keegan Bradley at next month's Ryder Cup in New York.

Read more on BBC

Watching Carrie write this novel, click-clacking away at her keyboard, pondering bonnets and buggies, is equivalent to watching a loved one descend into madness.

Read more on Salon

To the untrained eye, Maifield’s candy cane-colored buggy is “just a toy car,” he said, but to a pro racer it’s a way to make a living, pieced together from race winnings and sponsorships.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Greg Jackson, one of the facilities managers, takes me around in a golf buggy.

Read more on BBC

When To Use

What does buggy mean?

As an adjective, buggy means full of bugs or infested with bugs. This can literally refer to insects, as in a buggy swamp, or it can refer to the kind of bugs found in software or machines—glitches and programming errors.As a noun, buggy refers to a small, wheeled cart or other vehicle, especially a horse-drawn carriage (often called a horse and buggy). There are several different vehicles that can be called a buggy.Example: The beta version of the app is a little buggy, so we’ll need to do some additional testing before we release it to the users.