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View synonyms for buggy

buggy

1

[ buhg-ee ]

adjective

, bug·gi·er, bug·gi·est.
  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 bug·gies.
  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. Older Slang. an automobile, especially an old or dilapidated one.
  4. 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.
  5. Metallurgy. a car, as for transporting ingots or charges for open-hearth furnaces.
  6. any of various small vehicles adapted for use on a given terrain, as on sand beaches or swamps.
  7. 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

    moon buggy

    golf buggy

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈbugginess, noun
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Other Words From

  • bug·gi·ness noun
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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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of buggy1

C18: of unknown origin
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Example Sentences

ATVs, dune buggies and other off-road vehicles can slam into the slow-moving tortoises with domed shells and heavily scaled, flattened forelimbs used for digging.

The new governor, first-term Republican George Deukmejian, had learned from Brown not to let anyone hang this buggy albatross around his neck, and left it to his ag folks to spray and protect.

For more than two hours after the strike, dozens of ambulances, bulldozers, fire trucks and even a Polaris buggy streamed in and out of the street.

They now have more manpower, buggies, night-vision equipment, and special drones that can detect groups of migrants hiding in the dunes.

From BBC

“When my little boy was younger and I had him in a buggy, I had to go out into the road,” she said.

From BBC

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More About Buggy

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.

Where does buggy come from?

The first records of buggy as a noun referring to a vehicle come from around 1760. It’s unknown where this word came from. But the origin of the word buggy as an adjective meaning “infested with insects” is very simple: it’s the word bug, meaning “insect,” and the adjective-forming suffix y, meaning “filled with.” The first records of this use come from around 1700.

Places are called buggy when there’s a lot of insects swarming around. Swamps and marshes are often buggy. The word can also be used to describe an immediate area or environment when there’s a lot of bugs around, as in It’s really humid and buggy outside right now, so let’s stay inside. In both cases, the word usually implies that insects like mosquitoes are flying around and being a nuisance.

The word bug is commonly used to refer to software errors, and describing software as buggy means there’s a lot of errors and things going wrong. Another word for this is glitchy (a synonym of this sense of bug is glitch). You might describe an app as buggy if it keeps crashing or malfunctioning.

When buggy is used as a noun, it can refer to several different kinds of wheeled vehicles. Most commonly it refers to a carriage pulled by a horse. In the United States and Canada, the word buggy typically refers to four-wheeled carriages, while in the U.K. and India it refers to two-wheeled ones. In parts of the U.S. and Canada, people such as the Amish use buggies for transportation. People often use the phrase horse and buggy to refer to the vehicle and the horse or horses that pull it.

Buggy can also refer to a baby carriage (a pram in the U.K.), an industrial cart (such as the kind used to transport mining materials), or a small motorized vehicle (such as dune buggy). In certain parts of the U.S. and Canada, people call a shopping cart a buggy.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to buggy?

  • buginess (noun)
  • buggier (comparative adjective)
  • buggiest (superlative adjective)

What are some synonyms for buggy?

What are some words that share a root or word element with buggy

 

 

What are some words that often get used in discussing buggy?

How is buggy used in real life?

As an adjective, buggy is an informal but common word that means there’s a lot of bugs—either insects or glitches.

 

 

Try using buggy!

Which of the following terms would NOT be used to describe software that’s considered buggy?

A. glitchy
B. perfect
C. malfunctioning
D. full or errors

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