BUGGING OUT Synonyms: 109 Similar and Opposite Words

bugging out

verb

present participle of bug out

as in retreating

to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening the ground soldiers bugged out just before the start of the aerial bombing

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in departing

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 bugging out There’s a wonderful small moment midway through the season where Reilly’s lightly bugging out in his dingy apartment, shaking out his limbs at sharp, insectile angles to get comfortable. —

Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 26 May 2026 Her baby's father answered the door with his eyes bugging out, and Frierson barged in to find two other guys, needles, spoons and powder on the table. —

Brad Schmitt, The Tennessean, 21 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bugging out

Verb

Haiti continues to stand before far larger powers — culturally, economically, politically — without retreating.

— Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 30 May 2026
The video appears to show a person standing with a snow shovel outside the house, near the street, then retreating toward the house and tossing the shovel into the yard.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2026