bogey

noun bo·gey

variants: or less commonly bogie or bogy

Definition of bogey

plural bogeys also bogies

1 play \ˈbu̇-gē, ˈbō-, ˈbü-\ :specter, phantom

2 play \ˈbō-gē also ˈbu̇- or ˈbü-\ :a source of fear, perplexity, or harassment

3 play \ˈbō-gē\

a chiefly British :an average golfer's score used as a standard for a particular hole or course

b :one stroke over par on a hole in golf

4 play \ˈbō-gē\ :a numerical standard of performance set up as a mark to be aimed at especially in competition

5 play \ˈbō-gē\ :an unidentified aircraft; especially :one not positively identified as friendly and so assumed to be hostile

See bogey defined for English-language learners

See bogey defined for kids

Examples of bogey in a Sentence

He made a bogey on the second hole.
He made bogey on the second hole.

Recent Examples of bogey from the Web

Stewart started the final round slowly, making bogeys on two of his first five holes.

— mike purkey, charlotteobserver, "City Amateur: College golfer rallies on Quail Hollow course set up much like PGAs," 27 Aug. 2017
A botched wedge shot that rolled into the course’s deepest bunker led to the bogey on No.

— craig smith, The Seattle Times, "David McKenzie, Jerry Kelly share first-round lead in Boeing Classic," 25 Aug. 2017
But bogeys on two of the next three holes were the beginning of his unraveling.

— karen crouse, New York Times, "Mixing Fatherhood With the PGA Tour: They’ll Always Have Hartford," 25 Aug. 2017
Each of the team’s four players had at least one hole of double bogey or worse.

— brent kennedy, Howard County Times, "Glenelg boys golf stays unbeaten with win over Centennial," 24 Aug. 2017
The Gunners were sub-par at the Bet365 Stadium and ended up losing the game 1-0 to their bogey team of recent years - prompting those ever-familiar cries of #WengerOut afterwards.

— SI.com, "Gary Lineker Tweets What We're All Thinking as Stoke New Boy Jese Rodriguez Shines on Debut," 20 Aug. 2017
Earlier in the day, Thomas overcame bogeys on holes No. 1 and No. 3 by carding birdies on No. 2, 7, 9, 10 13 and 17.

— creg stephenson, AL.com, "Former Alabama star Justin Thomas wins PGA Championship," 13 Aug. 2017
While China is seen as the bogey-man of steel dumping, its shipments to the U.S. have fallen by 72 percent since 2014, the result of tariffs imposed under President Barack Obama.

— thomas biesheuvel, Bloomberg.com, "How Trump’s ‘Hammer’ on Chinese Steel Could Hit the U.S.," 11 July 2017
The bogey dropped him into a temporary tie for the lead with Harman.

— paul daugherty, Cincinnati.com, "Doc: Nothing flashy, and that worked for Koepka," 19 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bogey.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of bogey

probably alteration of bogle

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1826

See Words from the same year

bogey Synonyms

Synonyms

bête noire, black beast, bugaboo, bugbear, dread, hobgoblin, ogre

Related Words

apparition, ghost, phantasm (also fantasm), phantom, poltergeist, shade, specter (or spectre), spirit, spook, wraith; banshee, bogeyman (also bogyman), demon (or daemon), devil, fiend, ghoul, imp, incubus; fright, horrible, horror, monster, monstrosity, terror; bane, curse, enemy, plague, scourge, torment; abomination, anathema

bogey

play

verb bo·gey \ ˈbō-gē \

Definition of bogey

bogeyed; bogeying

transitive verb

:to shoot (a hole in golf) in one over par

See bogey defined for English-language learners

Examples of bogey in a Sentence

She birdied the first hole but bogeyed the second hole.

Recent Examples of bogey from the Web

Stroud, from Houston, bogeyed the par 4 first hole.

— rick bonnell, charlotteobserver, "PGA Championship updates: Kevin Kisner’s lead now two strokes," 13 Aug. 2017
With his back against the wall, Spieth finished spectacularly after bogeying three of the first four holes of the last round.

— the tylt, cleveland.com, "Is Jordan Spieth this generation's Tiger Woods?," 25 July 2017
A day after making no bogeys in shooting a 65 Spieth bogeyed three of his first four holes.

— star-telegram, "Dallas’ Jordan Spieth wins British Open in turnaround for the ages," 23 July 2017
Funk triple bogeyed on the 12th hole and let Langer take over by three strokes.

— cheryl wray | cwray@al.com, AL.com, "Bernhard Langer repeats as Regions Tradition champ, ties Jack Nicklaus record," 21 May 2017
Dustin Johnson’s first wedge of the way hit the pin, caromed off the green and led to bogey.

— doug ferguson, The Denver Post, "The debut for Hughes: Canada rookie tied for lead at Players," 11 May 2017
Elich, a graduate of West Linn High School, bogeyed her first two holes, but made birdies on the fifth, sixth and 10th holes to get to 6 over for the tournament.

— mike tokito | the oregonian/oregonlive, OregonLive.com, "George Fox vaults into 1st place in NCAA Division III women's golf championship," 11 May 2017
Phil Mickelson, playing with Spieth, shook up the grounds with a birdie-birdie start, but then double-bogeyed the third and watched the air leave the balloon.

— mark whicker, Orange County Register, "Rose, Garcia lead Masters going into final round," 8 Apr. 2017
There has never been two people more perfect for each other than perhaps Bogey and Bacall and maybe Gonzo and Camilla!)

— laura beck, Cosmopolitan, "The Internet Responds *Brilliantly* to That Billboard Drake Bought Rihanna," 27 Aug. 2016

First Known Use of bogey

1948

Other General Sports Terms

kegler, mulligan, rappel, turkey

BOGEY Defined for English Language Learners

bogey

noun

Definition of bogey for English Language Learners

golf : a score that is one more than the official standard score for a particular hole : a score of one stroke over par on a hole
: something that causes fear or worry