bugged out

verb

past tense of bug out
1
as in fled
to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening the ground soldiers bugged out just before the start of the aerial bombing

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in departed
to leave a place often for another the strange visitor bugged out without so much as saying a word

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bugged out Matt, your eyes just really bugged out! — Kate Aurthur, Variety, 21 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bugged out
  1. fled
  2. departed
  3. retreated
  4. exited
  5. bolted
  6. moved
  7. escaped
  8. got
Verb
  • The call was made by a bank employee after Dyer had already fled the scene, but officers were able to find him quickly, police said.
    — Mary Ella Hastings July 24, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 July 2026
  • In France, some people even fled by boat when flames swept through touristic towns on the Atlantic coast.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 25 July 2026
Definition of fled
Verb
  • As expected, a significant chunk of key contributors from that historic 2026 team departed.
    — Hunter DeLauder, AJC.com, 29 July 2026
  • The newlyweds, meanwhile, bounced over to Italy’s Lake Como and Florence for a mini-moon after everyone had departed.
    — Kaitlin Menza, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 July 2026
Definition of departed
Verb
  • Since her stage days, Cassie has retreated out of the spotlight.
    — Emily Weaver, PEOPLE, 27 July 2026
  • Trump, too, recently talked about — and then retreated from — plans to charge tolls for safe passage.
    — Ron Kampeas, The Washington Examiner, 25 July 2026
Definition of retreated
Verb
  • To make matters worse, All-Star first baseman Nick Kurtz exited the game with a left forearm contusion after he was hit by a pitch in the first inning.
    — Sean Campbell, Sacbee.com, 30 July 2026
  • Fever star center Aliyah Boston exited early with an apparent knee injury after landing awkwardly.
    — Chantz Martin OutKick, FOXNews.com, 29 July 2026
Definition of exited
Verb
  • The fix gets dismissed as a database bolted onto a chatbot, when continual learning is a fundamentally unsolved machine learning problem.
    — Alexander Kardos-Nyheim, Fortune, 25 July 2026
  • But those same investments coincided with site performance drops, almost certainly because accessibility overlays and third-party add-ons were bolted onto existing infrastructure rather than built into it.
    — Brian Chidester, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
Definition of bolted
Verb
  • Johnson was born in southern California and grew up in Omaha after her family moved there.
    — Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 26 July 2026
  • The charge, which has since been dropped, was related to a dispute Dillon had with her former neighbors who had since moved and did not pursue the case, her lawsuit said.
    — Emma Tucker, CNN Money, 25 July 2026
Definition of moved
Verb
  • The song picks up a locomotive rhythm, as if the only way to reflect on those scenes is with the momentum of having escaped them.
    — Amanda Wicks, Pitchfork, 25 July 2026
  • Wacha also escaped trouble by stranding two runners in the sixth.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 25 July 2026
Definition of escaped
Verb
  • But then Lily somehow intuits the core evolutionary idea behind a man competing at naked limbo with a group of monkeys, even though neither Kaylin as explainer nor Zac as performer got what Lisa’s drawing was conveying.
    — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 28 July 2026
  • Something as rudimentary as remembering the play calls as training camp got underway, was also top of mind.
    — Benjamin Royer, Oc Register, 28 July 2026
Definition of got

Browse Nearby Words

bugged off
bugged out
bugger
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Cite this Entry

“Bugged out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bugged%20out. Accessed 31 Jul. 2026.

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Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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