as in dreads
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
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Recent Examples of bugaboos
Now, for one of their chief bugaboos — a primary culprit for the mediocre record through 32 games.
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Joe Vardon, New York Times, 25 Dec. 2025
James went down a lengthy list of bugaboos that hurt the Chargers, including but not limited to 14 penalties totaling 107 yards, the Giants’ 7-for-15 efficiency on third downs, a lackluster start that featured deficits of 10-0 and 13-3 in the first half and a failure to force a New York turnover.
—Elliott Teaford, Oc Register, 28 Sep. 2025
Getting the focus right is one of the bugaboos of using a telephoto lens for astrophotography, because the focus on such lenses is touchy and easily gets knocked off kilter.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 Apr. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bugaboos
Noun
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Also, there is this human white boy with dreads, Spider, a Tarzan type who hangs around the Sullys with the help of an oxygen mask.—
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Other introspective angles are explored during Mariano’s audiences with his friend the Pope (Rufin Doh Zeyenouin), a serene Black man with a head crowned by a bundle of silver dreads, who tools around the Vatican on a motorbike.—
Noun
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Women who died in childbirth, young men who died in war, infants who died before baptism—these especially pitiable dead were sometimes thought to become terrors whom the living would need to finish off once and for all.—
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What better way to avoid the terrors of Dry January than by sneaking yourself into the cozy snug of The Pub, a compendium of Britain’s quintessential third space.—
Noun
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Duffy’s bugbears include the aforementioned fisticuffs, a lack of pleases and thank yous for staff, and the reluctance of current passengers to help the aged, the infirm, and the pregnant.—
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Anyway, as this supporter told Sky Sports, one of their bugbears is that Chelsea Dagger doesn’t actually have anything to do with Chelsea Football Club.—
Noun
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Rubbermaid EasyFindLids Food Storage Containers Finding the right lid to fit your food storage container plagues just about all of us, but this set solves that problem.—
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Sure, to be entirely historically accurate, negative things like plagues, beheadings and poverty would likely factor in to the villagers’ lives.—
Noun
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Davie’s successor will inherit an organization wrestling with its place in a media ecosystem dominated by overseas tech giants, as well as battling enemies closer to home, with conservative politicians and media proprietors wishing to see the BBC diminished during charter renewal.—
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Even paranoiacs have enemies, maybe rendering their paranoia a rational response.—
Noun
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Despite its name, the bar operates as a globally minded cocktail destination with equal attention paid to other spirits, along with small bites and an impressive cigar selection.—
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And for Dirty Shirleys, different spirits, including vodka, gin, tequila and vermouth can be substituted.—
Cite this Entry
“Bugaboos.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bugaboos. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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