bughouse

1 of 2

adjective

bug·​house ˈbəg-ˌhau̇s How to pronounce bughouse (audio)
informal + offensive
: mentally unsound

bughouse

2 of 2

noun

plural bughouses
informal + disparaging
: an institution providing care to mentally unsound individuals

Examples of bughouse in a Sentence

Adjective anyone would go bughouse after being stuck on an airplane for 7 hours
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Radicalized nutballs are just starting to bubble to the surface of the national consciousness—like this tantrum-throwing buffoon, Landon Copeland, who took the hearing for his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol as an opportunity to turn a court of law into a MAGA bughouse. Bryan Box, The New Republic, 10 Sep. 2021 At the end of Fletcher Knebel's novels, the bughouse president resigns and the coup is foiled. Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 14 Apr. 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bughouse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1894, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1899, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bughouse was in 1894

Dictionary Entries Near bughouse

Cite this Entry

“Bughouse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bughouse. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!