bughouse

/ˈbʌɡhaʊs/

//ˈbʌɡhaʊs// noun

"bughouse" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bughouse” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A flea-infested hotel, lodging-house etc.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bughouse · bughouse · English

bughouse · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "B" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for bughouse
PropertyValue
Headwordbughouse
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbʌɡhaʊs/
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “bughouse” in English

bughousesits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

bughouse is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbʌɡhaʊs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

bughouse has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From bug + house. The correct English form is bughouse, spelled B-U-G-H-O-U-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A flea-infested hotel, lodging-house etc.
  2. 2
    A prison.
  3. 3
    A hospital, especially a lunatic asylum.
  4. 4
    A cheap and dirty cinema.
  5. 5
    Clipping of bughouse chess

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how bughouse appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Well, he was ready for the bughouse, certainly.

Etymology

From bug + house.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bughouse"?
"bughouse" is spelled B-U-G-H-O-U-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbʌɡhaʊs/.
What does "bughouse" mean?
As a noun, "bughouse" means: A flea-infested hotel, lodging-house etc.
How do you pronounce "bughouse"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bughouse" is /ˈbʌɡhaʊs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "bughouse"?
From bug + house. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list