Bugaboo
noun
Something that you are afraid of or a problem you worry about that is perhaps imaginary.
Don't let the potential difficulties become a bugaboo.
Often appears as...
- face your bugaboo
- don't be a bugaboo
Usage tips
Colloquial
noun
A design or style in objects, often a stroller brand.
They bought a Bugaboo stroller for their newborn baby.
Often appears as...
- buy a bugaboo
- bugaboo stroller
noun
Something that you are afraid of or a problem you worry about that is perhaps imaginary.
Don't let the potential difficulties become a bugaboo.
Often appears as...
- face your bugaboo
- don't be a bugaboo
Usage tips
Colloquial
noun
A design or style in objects, often a stroller brand.
They bought a Bugaboo stroller for their newborn baby.
Often appears as...
- buy a bugaboo
- bugaboo stroller
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Imaginary Fears
Use 'bugaboo' to express a fear or worry that might not even be real.
I realized that the ghost stories were just a bugaboo.
Pro Tip 2/3Psychological Barriers
In personal growth, 'bugaboo' can symbolize non-physical obstacles you want to conquer.
Public speaking used to be my bugaboo, but not anymore.
Pro Tip 3/3Colloquial Nuance
'Bugaboo' is casual, suited for everyday conversations, not formal documents.
Let's not turn this issue into a bugaboo; it's solvable.
Pro Tip 1/3Imaginary Fears
Use 'bugaboo' to express a fear or worry that might not even be real.
I realized that the ghost stories were just a bugaboo.
Pro Tip 2/3Psychological Barriers
In personal growth, 'bugaboo' can symbolize non-physical obstacles you want to conquer.
Public speaking used to be my bugaboo, but not anymore.
Pro Tip 3/3Colloquial Nuance
'Bugaboo' is casual, suited for everyday conversations, not formal documents.
Let's not turn this issue into a bugaboo; it's solvable.
Pro Tip 1/3Imaginary Fears
Use 'bugaboo' to express a fear or worry that might not even be real.
I realized that the ghost stories were just a bugaboo.
Pro Tip 2/3Psychological Barriers
In personal growth, 'bugaboo' can symbolize non-physical obstacles you want to conquer.
Public speaking used to be my bugaboo, but not anymore.
Pro Tip 3/3Colloquial Nuance
'Bugaboo' is casual, suited for everyday conversations, not formal documents.
Let's not turn this issue into a bugaboo; it's solvable.
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Quote examples
Kenneth Fisher
American Businessman
Environmentalists should like fracking for its relative cleanliness. But they don't. They have made a bugaboo out of the chemicals in fracking fluids, which supposedly can leach into groundwater sources. I'm convinced they're dead wrong. Ultimately, good technology with a cost advantage will win out over paranoia.
Quote examples
Nina Easton
American Journalist
The pact creating a North American free-trade zone was President Bill Clinton's signature accomplishment; but NAFTA is also the bugaboo of union leaders, grassroots activists and Midwesterners who blame free trade for the factory closings they see in their hometowns.
Quote examples
John Updike
American Novelist
I'm trying to get the terrorist out of the bugaboo category and into the category of a fellow human being.
Quote examples
Kenneth Fisher
American Businessman
Environmentalists should like fracking for its relative cleanliness. But they don't. They have made a bugaboo out of the chemicals in fracking fluids, which supposedly can leach into groundwater sources. I'm convinced they're dead wrong. Ultimately, good technology with a cost advantage will win out over paranoia.
Quote examples
Nina Easton
American Journalist
The pact creating a North American free-trade zone was President Bill Clinton's signature accomplishment; but NAFTA is also the bugaboo of union leaders, grassroots activists and Midwesterners who blame free trade for the factory closings they see in their hometowns.
Quote examples
John Updike
American Novelist
I'm trying to get the terrorist out of the bugaboo category and into the category of a fellow human being.
Example 1 of 3
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