as in dread
something or someone that causes fear or dread especially without reason
doing one's tax returns is a real bugaboo for a lot of people
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bugaboo
So why do Democrats continue to target the Electoral College as their bugaboo?
Laziness.
—
Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 19 Dec. 2024
Entry Passes To Nikola Jokic One of the ongoing bugaboos for the Nuggets through the course of the career of their three-time MVP and Finals MVP Nikola Jokic has been his teammates’ inability at times to simply feed him the ball in the post.
—Joel Rush, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024
The bugaboos have been controlling his high walk rate and limiting hard contact, something both the White Sox and Dodgers felt was tied to predictable pitch usage.
—Fabian Ardaya, The Athletic, 6 Aug. 2024
The losing side failed to clear 70 points in all three of those contests, and offensive rebounds — the bugaboo of the 2023 U.S. World Cup team — were pivotal (and incredibly frequent) in two of them.
—John Hollinger, The Athletic, 16 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for bugaboo
Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 19 Dec. 2024
Entry Passes To Nikola Jokic One of the ongoing bugaboos for the Nuggets through the course of the career of their three-time MVP and Finals MVP Nikola Jokic has been his teammates’ inability at times to simply feed him the ball in the post.
—Joel Rush, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024
The bugaboos have been controlling his high walk rate and limiting hard contact, something both the White Sox and Dodgers felt was tied to predictable pitch usage.
—Fabian Ardaya, The Athletic, 6 Aug. 2024
The losing side failed to clear 70 points in all three of those contests, and offensive rebounds — the bugaboo of the 2023 U.S. World Cup team — were pivotal (and incredibly frequent) in two of them.
—John Hollinger, The Athletic, 16 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for bugaboo
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bugaboo
Noun
-
Filming their every outspoken thought and conversation whether in the newsroom, at home, on the street or in cars driving around frigid Moscow, the director channels the growing sense of dread as the government crackdown accelerates and the war nears.—
Jordan Mintzer,
The Hollywood Reporter,
24 Feb. 2025
-
Read More: Scientists Debate Why Childbirth is So Brutal Epidural Risks and Research Unfortunately, myths and out-of-date information continue to inspire fear and dread of the procedure.—
Stephen C. George,
Discover Magazine,
20 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The fiscal policy has proved to be a persistent political bugbear for Berlin, with arguments between parties over the extent to which the debt brake ensures responsible spending, or limits growth and investment.—
Holly Ellyatt,
CNBC,
24 Feb. 2025
-
To attribute the corrosion of institutional trust to such bugbears as relativism or postmodernism is to ignore explanations that are both more concrete and more parsimonious.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
The New Yorker,
19 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
On January 1, revelers rang in the new year to tragedy when a terror attack claimed 15 lives and left 57 injured.—
Harriet Shepherd,
Vogue,
5 Mar. 2025
-
Celebrated around the world, Mardi Gras holds a special meaning for the citizens of New Orleans, especially after the terror attack on the city’s famed Bourbon Street on New Year’s Eve.—
Sam Gillette,
People.com,
4 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
According to Stanford historian Walter Scheidel, over the past 2,000 years, only four forces have reversed growing economic inequality: mass-mobilization warfare, transformative revolutions, state collapse, and catastrophic plagues.—
The Sorenson Impact Institute,
Forbes,
28 Feb. 2025
-
The progress is undone; however, when two kids' excursion into an infected zone sets events in motion, the zombie plague spread throughout the community.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
27 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Another victory on what was becoming our bogey ground due to a ‘whatever Ortega can do, Ederson can do as well’ save.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
The Athletic,
26 Feb. 2025
-
Keith Mitchell To succeed at PGA National, players must avoid bogeys and scramble well.—
Matt Robison,
Newsweek,
25 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bugaboo.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bugaboo. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share