definition of bogeyman

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Definition of bogeyman

Examples of bogeyman in a sentence.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bogeyman.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

1890, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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“Bogeyman.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bogeyman. Accessed 15 Oct. 2023.

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Definition of 'bogeyman'

bogeyman in British English

Bogeyman in american english, examples of 'bogeyman' in a sentence bogeyman, trends of bogeyman.

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or bo·gy·man

an imaginary evil character of supernatural powers, especially a mythical hobgoblin supposed to carry off naughty children.

Origin of bogeyman

• Also boog·ey·man or boog·ie·man [ b oo g -ee-man, boo -gee-]; /ˈbʊg iˌmæn, ˈbu gi-/; South Midland and Southern U.S. , boog·er·man [ b oo g -er-man, boo -ger-] /ˈbʊg ərˌmæn, ˈbu gər-/ .

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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bogeyman in a sentence

For the left, the situation represented the right’s opposition to progress and fixation on cultural bogeymen.

Its rise has been powered by a strategy of mobilizing Hindu voters using the country’s minorities as the bogeyman .

Kashmir thus fits neatly into the BJP’s use of Muslims as the bogeyman to unite the vastly disparate Hindu voter base against the dangerous “other.”

The movement has served, at times, as a bogeyman for police and the far right in general, with Snohomish’s own police chief resigning last year, days before the Back The Blue rally, after he fueled rumors of an ominous antifa mob approaching town.

A neo-Nazi alliance called Right Sector, which was active in pro-Maidan violence, is another bogeyman .

What went before, an interim framework agreement that caused a great deal of controversy, is no longer the bogeyman .

Insurance is a large and varied industry, and frequently plays the heavy and bogeyman , especially the health insurers.

“China has replaced Japan as the bogeyman of East Asia in terms of international investment,” said Milhaupt.

Hamas remains the bogeyman , much as the PLO was, before Madrid and Oslo, but with some crucial differences.

British Dictionary definitions for bogeyman

/ ( ˈbəʊɡɪˌmæn ) /

a person, real or imaginary, used as a threat, esp to children

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Meaning of boogeyman in English

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boogeyman | American Dictionary

Translations of boogeyman.

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a person who often complains

Vast, mahoosive and monstrous (Words meaning ‘very large’)

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Definition of bogeyman noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

• The bogeyman's coming!

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