bugbear

/ˌbʌgˈbɛər/
IPA guide

Other forms: bugbears

Definitions of bugbear
  1. noun
    an imaginary monster used to frighten children
    synonyms: bogeyman, booger, boogeyman, bugaboo
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    type of:
    monster
    an imaginary creature usually having various human and animal parts
  2. noun
    an object of dread or apprehension
    “Germany was always a bugbear for France”
    synonyms: hobgoblin
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    type of:
    object
    the focus of cognitions or feelings
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Word Family

Vocabulary lists containing bugbear

"The Minister's Black Veil," Vocabulary from the short story

As you read Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil," learn this word list. Here are links to lists for texts in Grade 11's Collection 3: Song of Myself, Growing Up Asian in America, poems by Emily Dickinson, Walden, Against Nature, The Minister's Black Veil, The Pit and the Pendulum

"A Vindication of the Rights of Woman," Vocabulary from the political argument

As you read Mary Wollstonecraft's "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman," learn this word list. Here are links to lists for texts in Grade 12's Collection 2: The Wife of Bath's Tale, Mallam Sile, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Saudi Women Take the Wheel, The Men We Carry in Our Minds

Four Star Words from Annie Proulx's "Rough Deeds"

Read the full story in The New Yorker (June 10 & 17, 2013).

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