bugaboo

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“
Do I have to tell you what your bugaboo is now? "

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Definitions (5)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun An object of obsessive, usually exaggerated fear or anxiety: "Boredom, laziness and failure . . . These bugaboos, magnified by imagination, keep [the workaholic] running” (Dun's Review).
  2. noun A recurring or persistent problem: "the bugaboos that have plagued vision systems: high price and slow throughput” (Lawrence A. Goshorn).

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Examples (37)

  • But when the eighty days had passed and the bugaboo was safely on board the “Bellerophon,” she came back to the scenes she loved so well and to what for her was the only heaven—Paris. —  Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Vol. 2 of 14
  • He allowed only two hits but was bothered by his old bugaboo, a lack of control as he walked three. —  Fanball Fantasy Football News - Newsbreakers
  • So once again, we'll lose what we have to that old liberal bugaboo -- COMPLACENCY. —  AlterNet.org Main RSS Feed
  • Do I have to tell you what your bugaboo is now No," said Anderson hoarsely. —  Breaking Point
  • Even I can get far enough away from it to see that And yet," rejoined Susie, "I have heard it said that it might possibly endanger the peace of Europe The Prince smiled at the words as at an old acquaintance The peace of Europe," he said, "is a kind of bugaboo which diplomats use to frighten each other with, and even to frighten themselves with. —  Affairs of State
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This word has been looked up 155 times.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Perhaps of Celtic origin.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. English dial. also boggyboo, Scots bogillbo; a kind of compound of bug and the interjection boo, Welsh bw = Gaelic bo, used to frighten children; cf. bo.
 

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/ˈbəgəbu/
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