boogeyman

noun

boo·​gey·​man ˈbu̇-gē-ˌman 

ˈbü-

variants or less commonly boogerman

ˈbu̇-gər- 

ˈbü-

: bogeyman

Examples of boogeyman in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Global Engagement Center, a State Department unit that called out Russian and Chinese propaganda campaigns and became a MAGA boogeyman, has been shut down. —Noah Shachtman, Wired News, 16 Apr. 2025

In the never-ending quest to figure out what we are supposed to eat, a new boogeyman has emerged: seed oils. —Rachel Sugar, The Atlantic, 11 Apr. 2025

Musk has been working to improve the image of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after becoming a boogeyman for the administration due to his cost-cutting push. —Alex Gangitano, The Hill, 31 Mar. 2025

Elon Musk, the de facto head of Trump’s agency-slashing Department of Government Efficiency, has become the new boogeyman for Sanders’s decadeslong warnings about an entrenched class of billionaires. —David Sivak, The Washington Examiner, 29 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

by alteration

First Known Use

circa 1850, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for boogeyman

• businessman
• canavan
• caravan
• constantan
• dragoman
• fisherman
• handyman
• harmattan
• journeyman
• marianne
• middleman
• minivan