Bugbear

//ˈbʌɡ.bɛə(ɹ)//

Synonyms for "bugbear" (87 found)

Ranked by relevance and common usage.

Closest matches (18)

bogeyman abomination affliction anathema bane bete noire bogey boggart bogle bogy booger boogerman

Noun(6 words)

bogeyman bugaboo anathema antipathy bogey booger

Strong matches (26)

boogeyman bug bugaboo bugger burden calamity crushing burden cry of wolf curse death destruction detestation disease dracula dud evil false alarm fear fee-faw-fum flash in the pan

Show 3 more words

frankenstein frightener ghost

Noun(3 words)

boogeyman bug-a-boo bête noire

Related words (43)

Related word relations

OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.

7 relation types

More general

2 entries

monster object

Synonyms

1 entries

bogeyman

coordinate

3 entries

specter spook troll

derived

1 entries

bugbearish

etymologically related_to

1 entries

bogey

is a

2 entries

mythical creature object

related to

14 entries

adversity alarm bogeyman bugaboo bête noire dread idle irritation obstacle ongoing phantom problem recurring resentment

Translations

26 translations across 12 languages.

Ancient Greek

1 entries

φόβητρον noun (imaginary creature)

Bulgarian

1 entries

плашило noun (source of dread, resentment or irritation)

Chinese Mandarin

1 entries

熊蜂 noun (imaginary creature)

Czech

3 entries

strašidlo noun (imaginary creature)
strašák (v hlavě) noun (source of dread, resentment or irritation)
černá můra noun (ongoing problem)

Dutch

4 entries

boeman noun (source of dread, resentment or irritation)
bête noire noun (ongoing problem)
schrikbeeld noun (source of dread, resentment or irritation)
spookbeeld noun (imaginary creature)

Finnish

4 entries

henkilökohtainen mörkö noun (source of dread, resentment or irritation)
kiusa noun (ongoing problem)
menninkäinen noun (imaginary creature)
mörkö noun (imaginary creature)

German

1 entries

Schrat noun (imaginary creature)

Greek

1 entries

μπαμπούλας noun (imaginary creature)

Hungarian

1 entries

mumus noun (imaginary creature)

Italian

1 entries

babau noun (imaginary creature)

Macedonian

4 entries

ба́уч noun (ongoing problem)
ба́уч noun (imaginary creature)
ко́шмар noun (source of dread, resentment or irritation)
пла́шило noun (source of dread, resentment or irritation)

Tamil

1 entries

பூச்சாண்டி noun (imaginary creature)

Sample sentences

12 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

Untidiness was his bugbear.

Source: tatoeba (4471280)

The reliance on a data connection to function is a big bugbear.

Source: tatoeba (13511294)

Stone ballast is now used throughout the main line, and has the additional advantage of eliminating the previous bugbear of dust.

Source: wiktionary

Level crossings are the bugbear of railway operation at Hull. There are no fewer than 16 within the city boundary.

Source: wiktionary

Showing 4 of 12 available sentences.

More for "bugbear"

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