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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of bugaboo
Forget the bugaboo of EV battery range.
—
Mark Phelan, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2025
Sitting sedately behind his host’s desk instead of standing up and jigging, Colbert informed the viewers about his guest, Senator Adam Schiff—another bugaboo to Trump—then quickly transitioned to telling the bad news.
—Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 21 July 2025
And this has long been a bugaboo of the secretary and his group, the Children's Health Defense Fund.
—CBS News, 29 June 2025
Considering the convergence of current cultural bugaboos on deck here—race, class, cancel culture, immigration—The Uproar mostly wears its topicality lightly, preferring the granular pull of human drama to editorial hectoring or lectures.
—Book Marks
june 26, Literary Hub, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for bugaboo
Mark Phelan, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2025
Sitting sedately behind his host’s desk instead of standing up and jigging, Colbert informed the viewers about his guest, Senator Adam Schiff—another bugaboo to Trump—then quickly transitioned to telling the bad news.
—Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 21 July 2025
And this has long been a bugaboo of the secretary and his group, the Children's Health Defense Fund.
—CBS News, 29 June 2025
Considering the convergence of current cultural bugaboos on deck here—race, class, cancel culture, immigration—The Uproar mostly wears its topicality lightly, preferring the granular pull of human drama to editorial hectoring or lectures.
—Book Marks
june 26, Literary Hub, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for bugaboo
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bugaboo
Noun
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Melissa's mysteries capture interest Hurricane scientists watched with a familiar feeling of dread as Melissa traversed the Caribbean.—
Dinah Voyles Pulver,
USA Today,
2 Nov. 2025
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Imagine not suffering existential dread over Tilly Norwood; imagine the freedom to choose to use AI for interstitial shots without kicking the Letterboxd hornets’ nest, as did the brothers Cairnes with Late Night With the Devil back in 2024.—
Andy Crump,
Time,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
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That mixture of terror and safety is the secret sauce for Mike Jubie, creator of the Headless Horseman Hayrides and Haunted Houses in New York’s historic Hudson Valley.—
Isabel Rosales,
CNN Money,
25 Oct. 2025
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On the other, a vision of what life would be like without the terror group.—
Efrat Lachter,
FOXNews.com,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Inflation will be a major bugbear for Takaichi to tackle, experts previously told CNBC.—
Lim Hui Jie,
CNBC,
23 Oct. 2025
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Anyway, as this supporter told Sky Sports, one of their bugbears is that Chelsea Dagger doesn’t actually have anything to do with Chelsea Football Club.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Now the government is out to quash this plague of poor decision making.—
David Merritt Johns,
The Atlantic,
2 Nov. 2025
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The Cowboys’ defense is bad and Denver’s is good, but all the same, a long dry spell or a continuation of the penalty plague will not end well this weekend.—
Joe Nguyen,
Denver Post,
26 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Connell hit one birdie, five bogeys and 11 pars in addition to the eagle to reach his score.—
Jack Murray,
Boston Herald,
27 Oct. 2025
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The string ended with a bogey at the par-5 1oth.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
25 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bugaboo.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bugaboo. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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