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
Best Supporting Actress One of Hickey’s bugaboos is the way the supporting races have often been gift-wrapped early, with co-leads like Emilia Pérez’s Zoe Saldaña and A Real Pain’s Kieran Culkin sweeping to victory.
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Nate Jones, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2026
Purdy’s biggest bugaboo could be interceptions.
—Cam Inman, Mercury News, 14 Jan. 2026
Now, for one of their chief bugaboos — a primary culprit for the mediocre record through 32 games.
—Joe Vardon, New York Times, 25 Dec. 2025
Stefon Diggs factored heavily into the comeback, specifically by defeating man-to-man coverage, which had been a bugaboo for this receiving corps lately.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 23 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bugaboo
Nate Jones, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2026
Purdy’s biggest bugaboo could be interceptions.
—Cam Inman, Mercury News, 14 Jan. 2026
Now, for one of their chief bugaboos — a primary culprit for the mediocre record through 32 games.
—Joe Vardon, New York Times, 25 Dec. 2025
Stefon Diggs factored heavily into the comeback, specifically by defeating man-to-man coverage, which had been a bugaboo for this receiving corps lately.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 23 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bugaboo
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bugaboo
Noun
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Every May, millions of high school students sit for Advanced Placement exams with a mixture of dread and excitement, with many believing that their scores could measurably shift the needle in their college prospects.—
Christopher Rim,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2026
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Up until shooting began, Seydoux was in a state of dread.—
Daniel D'Addario,
Variety,
18 May 2026
Noun
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Putting words on the page seems too low stakes to get worked up about, and yet the terror of saying something taboo—or just being boring—feels like a terrible fate to most writers.—
David O’Neill,
New Yorker,
20 May 2026
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While Clancy died in 2013, Jack Ryan continues to confront a world that never loses its capacity for danger, destruction and terror.—
Stephen Schaefer,
Boston Herald,
20 May 2026
Noun
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This has been one of its main bugbears for years, with several engine types experimented with.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Apr. 2026
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Timings, though, can often be a bugbear.—
Philip Buckingham,
New York Times,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Haffkine, little known to the general public, was the Ukrainian-Jewish scientist whose work on cholera and plague vaccines in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries helped save millions of lives.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
15 May 2026
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In 2023, a slew of onstage attacks involving water bottles, cellphones and other projectiles seemed to plague musicians.—
Emily St. Martin,
Los Angeles Times,
14 May 2026
Noun
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Patrick Reed was the only player who made it around Aronimink without a bogey, his two birdies giving him a 68 and in the large group with Xander Schauffele and Shane Lowry, who played the two par 5s in 3 under.—
Doug Ferguson,
Chicago Tribune,
15 May 2026
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And until the last two holes — his lone bogeys of the round — the plan served him well.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
15 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bugaboo.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bugaboo. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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