Did you know?
Just as peanuts are neither peas nor nuts (they are legumes), bugbears are neither bugs nor bears, but a secret, third thing. Not so secret that we won’t share it with you, however. Let’s start with the bug in bugbear, which refers not to an insect, but instead comes from the Middle English word bugge. This bugge was used for all kinds of imaginary spooky creatures—from ghosts and goblins to scarecrows—that cause fright or dread. In the 1500s this bug was combined with bear (as in the animal) to form bugbear, even though there is little evidence that either a bug or bugbear took an ursine form. In fact, based on its earliest known uses, bugbear began as an all-purpose word for things that cause fear or dread, not just supernatural beasties. This sense is still in use today, alongside the closely related sense of “a continuing source of irritation or annoyance.” Use of the “hobgoblin” sense of bugbear appears to have begun slightly later, though it, too, persists to the present day, notably as the name of a hulking creature in the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
Examples of bugbear in a Sentence
Tim Spiers, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
Low volumes of trading has been a common bugbear for foreign investors looking at investing in Tadawul.
—Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 3 Oct. 2025
Another bugbear: Bigger U.S. distributors now rarely pre-buy movies, taking them out of the film financing equation.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 26 Sep. 2025
And indulging Trump on Kim could help Lee downplay bugbears with Seoul.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bugbear
Cite this Entry
“Bugbear.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bugbear. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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bugbear
noun
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