bugaboo

American  

[buhg-uh-boo] / ˈbʌg əˌbu /

noun

plural

bugaboos

1. something that causes fear or worry; bugbear; bogy.

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bugaboo British  

/ ˈbʌɡəˌbuː /

noun

1. an imaginary source of fear; bugbear; bogey

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Etymology

Origin of bugaboo

1730–40; earlier buggybow. See bogy ¹, boo ¹

Explanation

Use the noun bugaboo to describe something that causes worry, like the bugaboo of having three tests on the same day at school. Bugaboo is also another name for the creature known as the bogeyman, an imaginary monster that children believe will hurt them or even take them away if they don't behave. Some usage experts trace bugaboo to Scotland, where the now-obsolete word bogill meant "goblin, bugbear." A bugbear, in the 1580 coining of the word, was a demon that looked like a bear and ate small children.

Example Sentences

But the latest bugaboo from the banking lobby is the possibility of other companies rewarding customers for using stablecoins.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 9, 2025

And despite getting Anthony Rizzo to pop up for the second out, the long-ball bugaboo bit him against Volpe.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 29, 2024

“That first inning has been my bugaboo in my career,” Irvin said.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 17, 2022

To wit: a literal — if incorporeal — bugaboo, the kind that has plagued and marred many an otherwise impeccable, even artful, horror film, as this one is.

From Washington Post • Aug. 17, 2021

McMillan and Alvarez returned from Los Alamos impatient to try out new approaches they had conceived to address that old bugaboo, the relativistic barrier to higher energies.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik