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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of bugaboo
Recent evidence points to the Marlins being the kind of bugaboo for the New York teams, who face differing degrees of difficulty in their quests to become division winners.
—
Larry Fleisher, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
Instead, the world over will have to increase more reliable energy sources, particularly coal, natural gas and that other bugaboo of environmentalists, nuclear energy.
—Peter Murphy, Hartford Courant, 18 Aug. 2025
Forget the bugaboo of EV battery range.
—Mark Phelan, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2025
Getting the focus right is one of the bugaboos of using a telephoto lens for astrophotography, because the focus on such lenses is touchy and easily gets knocked off kilter.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for bugaboo
Larry Fleisher, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
Instead, the world over will have to increase more reliable energy sources, particularly coal, natural gas and that other bugaboo of environmentalists, nuclear energy.
—Peter Murphy, Hartford Courant, 18 Aug. 2025
Forget the bugaboo of EV battery range.
—Mark Phelan, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2025
Getting the focus right is one of the bugaboos of using a telephoto lens for astrophotography, because the focus on such lenses is touchy and easily gets knocked off kilter.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for bugaboo
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bugaboo
Noun
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That last reassuring prediction lowered my dread meter enough to consider the Connecticut homegrown disruptive events that will require attention but do not threaten annihilation.—
Kevin Rennie,
Hartford Courant,
3 Jan. 2026
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For many Venezuelans in Austin, news that United States forces had captured Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, landed with a mix of relief and dread.—
Julianna Duennes Russ,
Austin American Statesman,
3 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Charles Manson had turned the hippie identity into one of night-stalking terror.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Jan. 2026
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Last December, armed rebels previously aligned with terror groups finally ousted Assad from power after a 14 year civil war.—
Lucia I Suarez Sang,
CBS News,
11 Jan. 2026
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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Crucially, the eggs were fittingly fluffy, none of that rubbery nonsense that plague lesser burrito slingers.—
Brock Keeling,
Oc Register,
6 Nov. 2025
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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
Noun
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In fact, the ride is more subtle and compliant than that of the new Porsche 911 GTS Cabriolet, the Vantage’s longtime bogey.—
Robb Report Contributors,
Robb Report,
26 Dec. 2025
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Thirty years ago, the same university developed the country’s first manned single bogie maglev train, making China the third nation to master the technology.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
26 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bugaboo.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bugaboo. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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