Word.ws English Dictionary

scarebug

scarebug noun: a bugbear; an imaginary monster to frighten children.

Noun

scarebug (plural scarebugs)

  1. (obsolete) A bugbear; an imaginary monster to frighten children.
    • Is hell but a name and word, a scarebug for to keep fools in awe?1862, Samuel Ward, Sermons and treatises, page 60
    • You can't fright me with your scarebugs. I'm going to be cremated. That's real ashes to ashes.1912, Israel Zangwill, The Next Religion: A Play in Three Acts, page 50

Examples of scarebug in a sentence

  • The argument is a mere scarebug of the opposition.1921, Edmund Peyton Lowe, American Principles, page 88:
  • As for painting, we have the portraits of Viceroys exhibited in the Government Council Hall, monstrous scarebugs made in series which may serve to terrorise our councillors.1961, T. B. Cunha, Goa's Freedom Struggle: Selected Writings of T. B. Cunha, page 87:

Forms of scarebug

pluralscarebugs
alternative formscare-bug

Origin of scarebug

From scare + bug.

Questions about scarebug

What does scarebug mean?
Scarebug means a bugbear; an imaginary monster to frighten children.
How do you use scarebug in a sentence?
The argument is a mere scarebug of the opposition.
What part of speech is scarebug?
Scarebug is a noun.
What is the plural of scarebug?
The plural of scarebug is scarebugs.

Words near scarebug in the dictionary

  1. scare-the-birds
  2. scareability
  3. scareable
  4. scarebabe
  5. scarebabes
  6. scarebug
  7. scarebugs
  8. scarecrow
  9. scarecrowed
  10. scarecrowing
  11. scarecrowish

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: scarebug (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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