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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

bugbear.

An ongoing problem; a recurring obstacle or adversity.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈbʌɡ.bɛə(ɹ)/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbʌɡ.bɛː(ɹ)/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbʌɡ.bɛɚ/General-American
  1. An ongoing problem; a recurring obstacle or adversity.

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

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

Where this word comes from

From obsolete meaning of bug (“something terrifying”) + bear. See Middle English bugge, modern bogey.

verb/ˈbʌɡ.bɛə(ɹ)/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbʌɡ.bɛː(ɹ)/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbʌɡ.bɛɚ/General-American
  1. To alarm with idle phantoms.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From obsolete meaning of bug (“something terrifying”) + bear. See Middle English bugge, modern bogey.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.