Did you know?
Just as peanuts are neither peas nor nuts (they are legumes), bugbears are neither bugs nor bears, but a secret, third thing. Not so secret that we won’t share it with you, however. Let’s start with the bug in bugbear, which refers not to an insect, but instead comes from the Middle English word bugge. This bugge was used for all kinds of imaginary spooky creatures—from ghosts and goblins to scarecrows—that cause fright or dread. In the 1500s this bug was combined with bear (as in the animal) to form bugbear, even though there is little evidence that either a bug or bugbear took an ursine form. In fact, based on its earliest known uses, bugbear began as an all-purpose word for things that cause fear or dread, not just supernatural beasties. This sense is still in use today, alongside the closely related sense of “a continuing source of irritation or annoyance.” Use of the “hobgoblin” sense of bugbear appears to have begun slightly later, though it, too, persists to the present day, notably as the name of a hulking creature in the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
Synonyms
Examples of bugbear in a Sentence
Chris Stokel-Walker, WIRED, 6 Dec. 2020
Those claims play into concerns about government overreach, a common right-wing bugbear.
—Ben Guarino, Scientific American, 11 Oct. 2024
Players customize their characters’ abilities and personalities to either participate in a roleplaying session, act out scenes with NPCs to further the story, or engage in combat with terrifying monsters like bugbears or gloomstalkers.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Ars Technica, 30 Sep. 2024
Lemon later pressed Musk on his other recent bugbear: diversity, equity, and inclusion.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 18 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for bugbear 
Dictionary Entries Near bugbear
Cite this Entry
“Bugbear.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bugbear. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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bugbear
noun
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