noun
- an imaginary evil creature used to frighten children
- a person or thing that is widely feared or disliked
Usage: figurative
Examples
- The child was afraid the bogeyman would come out from under the bed.
- Parents shouldn’t use the bogeyman to scare their kids into behaving.
- The politician became the bogeyman of the opposition party.
- Don’t let fear of failure become your bogeyman.
- The media portrayed him as the bogeyman of corporate greed.
- She told her son there was no such thing as a bogeyman.
- The new tax policy made the mayor a bogeyman to local businesses.