bugbear
/ˈbʌɡ.bɛə(ɹ)/
"bugbear" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bugbear” is uncommon English (frequency #76,605 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #76,605
- frequency rank, English
- 4,121
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An ongoing problem; a recurring obstacle or adversity.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bugbear · bugbear · English
bugbear · rank #76,605 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #76,605
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,121
- PHOTO-FINISH Bude
Nearest frequency peer: Bude (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “bugbear”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- brigantine
brigantine
23,402 corpus weight
- Bude
Bude
23,397 corpus weight
- bugbear
bugbear
23,396 corpus weight
- burd
burd
23,394 corpus weight
- burdon
burdon
23,393 corpus weight
- buttonhole
buttonhole
23,392 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “bugbear” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bugbear |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbʌɡ.bɛə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #76,605 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “bugbear” in English
Rare enough to double-check
bugbear is uncommon English at frequency #76,605 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbʌɡ.bɛə(ɹ)/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for bugbear in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From obsolete meaning of bug (“something terrifying”) + bear. See Middle English bugge, modern bogey. The correct English form is bugbear, spelled B-U-G-B-E-A-R.
Definition
- 1An ongoing problem; a recurring obstacle or adversity.
- 2A source of dread; resentment; or irritation.
- 3A generic creature, often described as a large goblin, meant to inspire fear in children.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bugbear appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Stone ballast is now used throughout the main line, and has the additional advantage of eliminating the previous bugbear of dust.
Level crossings are the bugbear of railway operation at Hull. There are no fewer than 16 within the city boundary.
Etymology
From obsolete meaning of bug (“something terrifying”) + bear. See Middle English bugge, modern bogey.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bugbear", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).