bugbear

[ buhg-bair ]

/ ˈbʌgˌbɛər /

any source, real or imaginary, of needless fright or fear.

a persistent problem or source of annoyance.

Folklore. a goblin that eats up naughty children.

Origin of bugbear

First recorded in 1570–80; bug² + bear²

bugaloo, buganda, bugatti, bugayev, bugbane, bugbear, bugboy, bugeye, bugger, bugger about, bugger off

They are discovering that they have been fighting a bugbear; also, that their legislation against the bugbear cannot legislate.

The American Architect and Building News, Vol. 27, Jan-Mar, 1890 |Various
Of all the fearsome beasts beneath the sun The Bugbear is the most appalling one.

A Phenomenal Fauna |Carolyn Wells
Europe needs a bugbear, a watchword that threatens, a name that makes itself feared.

Fragments of an Autobiography |Felix Moscheles
That bugbear had been effectually squelched after he had told how kind the two Armstrong boys had shown themselves to him.

The Pioneer Boys of the Ohio |Harrison Adams

But to the world no bugbear is so great, As want of figure, and a small estate.

Essay on Man |Alexander Pope

bugbear

/ (ˈbʌɡˌbɛə) /

a thing that causes obsessive fear or anxiety

(in English folklore) a goblin said to eat naughty children and thought to be in the form of a bear

C16: from bug ² + bear ²; compare bugaboo