bugaboo
pronunciation
How to pronounce bugaboo in British English:
UK [ˈbʌgəbu:]
How to pronounce bugaboo in American English:
US [ˈbʌɡəˌbu]
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- Noun:
- an imaginary monster used to frighten children
- a source of concern
Word Origin
- bugaboo (n.)
- 1843, earlier buggybow (1740), probably an alteration of bugbear (also see bug (n.)), but connected by Chapman ["Dictionary of American Slang"] with Bugibu, demon in the Old French poem "Aliscans" from 1141, which is perhaps of Celtic origin (compare Cornish bucca-boo, from bucca "bogle, goblin").
Example
- 1. The bugaboo this time is black holes .
- 2. Let me lay to rest the bugaboo of what is called " devaluation . "
- 3. Signs of it were revealed by the absence of reporting on the big bugaboo of the past few years : the us current account deficit .
- 4. With a war in afghanistan and worries over the rise of new superpowers in china and india , asia seems like a relatively recent u.s. foreign-policy bugaboo .
- 5. And in the case of rapidly expanding emerging economies , the moderation can be seen as a positive in the effort to get inflation , the main economic bugaboo , under control .