bug·bear

(bŭg′bâr′)

1. A cause of fear, anxiety, or irritation: Overcrowding is often a bugbear for train commuters.

2. A difficult or persistent problem: "One of the major bugbears of traditional AI is the difficulty of programming computers to recognize that different but similar objects are instances of the same type of thing" (Jack Copeland).

3. A fearsome imaginary creature, especially one evoked to frighten children.

[Obsolete bug, hobgoblin (from Middle English bugge, perhaps from Welsh bwg) + bear.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

bugbear

(ˈbʌɡˌbɛə)

1. a thing that causes obsessive fear or anxiety

2. (European Myth & Legend) (in English folklore) a goblin said to eat naughty children and thought to be in the form of a bear

[C16: from bug² + bear²; compare bugaboo]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

bug•bear

(ˈbʌgˌbɛər)

n.

1. a persistent problem or source of annoyance.

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

3. (in folklore) a goblin said to eat up naughty children.

[1570–80]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	bugbear - an imaginary monster used to frighten children bogeyman, booger, boogeyman, bugaboo monster - an imaginary creature usually having various human and animal parts
	2.	bugbear - an object of dread or apprehension; "Germany was always a bugbear for France"; "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"--Ralph Waldo Emerson hobgoblin object - the focus of cognitions or feelings; "objects of thought"; "the object of my affection"

bugbear

noun pet hate, bête noire, horror, nightmare, devil, dread, fiend, anathema, bane, bogeyman, bugaboo, bogey Money is my biggest bugbear.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

bugbear

noun

An object of extreme dislike:

abhorrence, abomination, anathema, aversion, bête noire, detestation, execration, hate.

Informal: horror.

Translations

μπαμπούλας

spauracchio

bugbear

[ˈbʌgbɛəʳ] N → pesadilla f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

bugbear

[ˈbʌgbɛə^r] n → cauchemar m, bête f noirebug-eyed [ˌbʌgˈaɪd] adj [monster, Martian] → aux yeux exorbités
to be bug-eyed → ouvrir des yeux ébahis

bugbear

[ˈbʌgˌbɛəʳ] n → spauracchio