1
as in dreads
something or someone that causes fear or dread especially without reason
communism was once the nation's biggest bugbear
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in headaches
something that is a source of irritation
hated all the bugbears of modern life, especially those long commutes to work
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bugbears
Noun
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Other introspective angles are explored during Mariano’s audiences with his friend the Pope (Rufin Doh Zeyenouin), a serene Black man with a head crowned by a bundle of silver dreads, who tools around the Vatican on a motorbike.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Some of the most common symptoms of a stroke include aphasia (trouble speaking or loss of speech), blurry/double vision, confusion, coma, dizziness/loss of coordination, memory loss, mood swings and headaches.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
25 Sep. 2025
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But the fitter and sharper Isak becomes, the selection headaches will follow.—
Andy Jones,
New York Times,
24 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Repression, self-harm, substance abuse, bullying, jealousy, emotional abuse, and even allusions to grooming, among other terrors of the fog, keep the tensions high from start to finish.—
Zackery Cuevas,
PC Magazine,
23 Sep. 2025
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Fletcher, who has been touring a number of the world’s hot spots, used his first trip to Haiti to meet with victims of the gangs’ terrors.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Back in August, IndieWire obtained a letter signed by roughly half of MUBI’s staff sharing frustrations over the investment.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
25 Sep. 2025
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These concerns and frustrations among America’s Gulf Arab partners are not new.—
Firas Maksad,
Time,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Decades ago, marshes were considered nuisances, soggy flats to be drained, dried, and made waterproof with liberal coatings of asphalt.—
Justin Davidson,
Curbed,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
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One was treated for minor injuries, likely from rose-bush thorns, Christensen said.—
David Goodhue,
Miami Herald,
22 Aug. 2025
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Both the northern and southern branches of the reef have been battered lately by tropical storms and the encroachment of invasive coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish, but heat stress driven by warming oceans is the primary cause, scientists told the BBC.—
Liz Hoffman,
semafor.com,
7 Aug. 2025
Noun
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While the enemies and level design, as well as the progression of the descending route is a clear inversion and iteration of the original, the second half of the game feels downright experimental.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
27 Sep. 2025
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For some whom the government now casts as enemies in the free-speech wars, that’s a worry.—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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One of my long-standing annoyances with macOS was the lack of control over the menu bar.—
Edward Mendelson,
PC Magazine,
15 Sep. 2025
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Minor annoyances suddenly widen into a chasm neither can cross.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
29 Aug. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Bugbears.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bugbears. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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