bugaboo.

1. Something imagined or represented as a frightening threat, often beyond what the evidence warrants.

2. An imaginary creature invoked to frighten someone, especially a child.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a political bugaboo
• a childhood bugaboo

On the page

The closed room became a childhood bugaboo long before she learned why it was locked.

The spokesman turned the visitors into a political bugaboo whenever questions arose.

Usage notes

Primary category: horror. Forms: Singular bugaboo; plural bugaboos. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.