10 definitions found for bugbear

Bugbear BUG'BEAR, v.t. To alarm or frighten with idle phantoms.

bugbear n 1: an imaginary monster used to frighten children [syn: bogeyman, bugbear, bugaboo, boogeyman, booger] 2: an object of dread or apprehension; "Germany was always a bugbear for France"; "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"--Ralph Waldo Emerson [syn: bugbear, hobgoblin]

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bugbear
n.
1 a cause of annoyance or anger; a bête noire.
2 an object of baseless fear.
3 archaic a sort of hobgoblin or any being invoked to intimidate children.
Etymology: obs. bug + BEAR(2)

bugbear ˈbʌɡbɛə n. 1 a cause of annoyance or anger; a béte noire. 2 an object of baseless fear. 3 archaic a sort of hobgoblin or any being invoked to intimidate children. [obs. bug + BEAR(2)]

Bugbear Bug"bear`, n. Same as Bugaboo. -- a. Causing needless fright. --Locke.

Bugbear Bug"bear`, v. t. To alarm with idle phantoms.

Bugaboo Bug`a*boo", Bugbear Bug"bear`, n. [See Bug.] Something frightful, as a specter; anything imaginary that causes needless fright; something used to excite needless fear; also, something really dangerous, used to frighten children, etc. ``Bugaboos to fright ye.'' --Lloyd. But, to the world no bugbear is so great As want of figure and a small estate. --Pope. The bugaboo of the liberals is the church pray. --S. B. Griffin. The great bugaboo of the birds is the owl. --J. Burroughs. Syn: Hobgoblin; goblin; specter; ogre; scarecrow.

bugbear n. Hobgoblin, spectre, ogre, bugaboo, Gorgon hydra, frightful object, raw head and bloody bones, object of baseless terror.

69 Moby Thesaurus words for "bugbear": Dracula, Frankenstein, Mumbo Jumbo, Wolf-man, affliction, anathema, bane, bete noire, bogey, bogeyman, boggart, bogle, bogy, booger, boogerman, boogeyman, bug, bugaboo, bugger, burden, calamity, crushing burden, cry of wolf, curse, death, destruction, detestation, disease, dud, evil, false alarm, fee-faw-fum, frightener, ghost, ghoul, grievance, harm, hate, hobgoblin, holy terror, horror, incubus, infliction, monster, nemesis, nightmare, ogre, ogress, open wound, pest, pestilence, phantom, plague, revenant, running sore, scarebabe, scarecrow, scarer, scourge, specter, succubus, terror, thorn, torment, vampire, vexation, visitation, werewolf, woe