bugbear — English Dictionary

Noun

1. An ongoing problem; a recurring obstacle or adversity.

   Synonyms

   pet peeve

   Examples

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

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

   More examples (1)

   Next, they operate in constrained worlds. Apple is a particular bugbear for Mr Zuckerberg and Mr Sweeney.

2. A source of dread; resentment; or irritation.

   Synonyms

   anathemaantipathybête noire

   Examples

   What has this Bugbear Death to frighten Man, If Souls can die, as well as Bodies can?

   But, to the world no bugbear is so great As want of figure and a small estate.

   More examples (1)

   What have I done to be made a bugbear of, and to be shunned and dreaded as if I brought the plague?

3. A generic creature, often described as a large goblin, meant to inspire fear in children.

   Synonyms

   bogeymanbogeybug-a-boobugaboo

   Examples

   Ha, ha: alas poore wretch: a poore Chipochia, haſt not ſlept to night? would he not (a naughty man) let it ſleepe: a bug-beare take him.

   “How could you lie so glaringly as to affirm I hated the ‘poor child’? and invent bugbear stories to terrify her from my door-stones?[…]”

   More examples (2)

   "My young friends," quietly replied Jason, "I do not wonder that you think the dragon very terrible. You have grown up from infancy in the fear of this monster, and therefore still regard him with the awe that children feel for the bugbears and hobgoblins which their nurses have talked to them about.[…]"

   The partisans of the Administration object to the word “imperialism,” calling it a mere bugbear having no real existence.

Verb

1. To alarm with idle phantoms.

   Usage

   • Transitive

Noun

1. an imaginary monster used to frighten children

   Synonyms

   bogeymanbugabooboogeymanbooger

   Broader terms

   monster

2. an object of dread or apprehension

   Synonyms

   hobgoblin

   Broader terms

   object

   Examples

   Germany was always a bugbear for France