bogeyman

noun

bo·gey·man ˈbu̇-gē-ˌman

ˈbō-

ˈbü-,

ˈbu̇-gər-

variants or less commonly bogyman

Synonyms of bogeyman next

: a monstrous imaginary figure used in threatening children

: a terrifying or dreaded person or thing : bugbear

Examples of bogeyman in a Sentence

My aunt used to say to my sister and me, “The bogeyman will get you if you're bad.” a politician who is the familiar bogeyman of conservatives

Recent Examples on the Web

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The Argument For Banning Fracking Fracking, like a bogeyman, has been accused of many things. —

Ian Dexter Palmer, Forbes, 27 Oct. 2024 Still, the need to tie Hogan to bogeymen like Cruz, Graham and McConnell was underscored Monday, when conversations with nearly a dozen of Alsobrooks' most vocal supporters revealed little negative to say about the former governor, but a greater eye on the levers of power in Washington. —

Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 26 Sep. 2024 At the time, these third-party, athlete-compensating creatures had emerged as arguably the NCAA’s biggest bogeymen in the association’s fight against booster inducements masquerading as promotional deals. —

Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 26 July 2024 All the while, a bogeyman served him well—not a return to communism, Yeltsin’s scarecrow, but the chaos of Yeltsinism. —

Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 1 Mar. 2015 See all Example Sentences for bogeyman