noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A menacing, ghost-like monster in children's stories.

   "Near-synonyms: bogeyperson, bogeywoman"

2. 2
   an imaginary monster used to frighten children wordnet
3. 3
   Any make-believe threat, especially one used to intimidate or distract; a real threat greatly exaggerated for those purposes. broadly, figuratively

   "Near-synonyms: bug-a-boo, bugaboo, chimera"

Synonyms

All synonyms

bugaboobugbearbug-a-boobete noirebig bad wolfbogey

Example

More examples

"Tom is a bogeyman. If he lets himself be seen, all the children take flight."

Etymology

From bogey + -man.

Related phrases

make believe

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.