1
as in annoyed
to disturb the peace of mind of (someone) especially by repeated disagreeable acts
these incessant phone calls are really starting to bug me
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in bothered
to thrust oneself upon (another) without invitation
I hate to bug you, but could you help me move this table?
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of bugged
Power gains are bugged to be too low for a new power grind that no one wants to do anyway.
—
Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
His not winning it was considered a failure, and that bugged him.
—Brody Miller, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
The characters muse about the extreme likelihood that their apartments have been bugged.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2025
Loktev makes her way into various apartments for commiserative gatherings and holiday celebrations — the midpoint of My Undesirable Friends is a delirious New Year’s party — where her hosts inevitably mention that their places are certainly bugged.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 14 Aug. 2025
Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
His not winning it was considered a failure, and that bugged him.
—Brody Miller, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
The characters muse about the extreme likelihood that their apartments have been bugged.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2025
Loktev makes her way into various apartments for commiserative gatherings and holiday celebrations — the midpoint of My Undesirable Friends is a delirious New Year’s party — where her hosts inevitably mention that their places are certainly bugged.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bugged
Verb
-
Everyone Lee comes into contact with is at minimum annoyed with him most of the time, if not outright hating him.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Keanu, still annoyed from the veto ceremony, talked to Ava Pearl in the HOH room and called Rachel a liar.—
David Wysong,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
No one has bothered to figure out the degree to which that alters the scaling laws of AI models until now.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
15 Sep. 2025
-
The two were hardly bothered, though.—
Hannah Jackson,
Vogue,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Think flying in spring water to a Caribbean island because a female client thought the local water irritated her scalp.—
Louis J. Esterhazy,
Footwear News,
7 Sep. 2025
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In fact, the aliens take a back seat to the human interactions, which irritated some viewers eager to see actual aliens in a show about an extraterrestrial invasion.—
Jennifer Ouellette,
ArsTechnica,
5 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Traders worried about inflation tend to pour money in gold, which some believe holds an intrinsic value that hedges against rising prices.—
David Goldman,
CNN Money,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Some scientists worried such accidents might genuinely threaten our existence.—
Thomas Moynihan,
Big Think,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
More and more, people who have loyally served Putin’s system are being persecuted, mainly on the grounds of corruption.—
ANDREI KOLESNIKOV,
Foreign Affairs,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Molero and her husband arrived in the United States in 2003, fleeing after they were persecuted for working alongside opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Miami Herald,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Vic and Cali hadn’t wanted a wedding, but this had disturbed Vic’s parents.—
Bryan Washington,
New Yorker,
7 Sep. 2025
-
Some civil servants working to bolster democracy around the world and at home, for example, were disturbed by shifts in foreign policy.—
Yvonne Zylan,
The Conversation,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bugged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bugged. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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