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Antonyms for bugged


Grammar : Verb
Spell : buhg
Phonetic Transcription : bʌg



Definition of bugged

Origin :
  • "insect," 1620s (earliest reference is to bedbugs), of unknown origin, probably but not certainly from or influenced by Middle English bugge "something frightening, scarecrow" (late 14c.), a meaning obsolete since the "insect" sense arose except in bugbear (1570s) and bugaboo (q.v.).
  • Probably connected with Scottish bogill "goblin, bugbear," or obsolete Welsh bwg "ghost, goblin" (cf. Welsh bwgwl "threat," earlier "fear," Middle Irish bocanách "supernatural being"). Some speculate that these words are from a root meaning "goat" (see buck (n.1)) and represent originally a goat-like spectre. Cf. also bogey (n.1) and German bögge, böggel-mann "goblin." Perhaps influenced in meaning by Old English -budda used in compounds for "beetle" (cf. Low German budde "louse, grub," Middle Low German buddech "thick, swollen").
  • In the United States bug is not confined, as in England, to the domestic pest, but is applied to all insects of the Coleoptera order, which includes what in this country are generally called beetles. [Farmer & Henley, "Dictionary of Slang and Colloquial English," 1912 abridged edition]
  • Meaning "defect in a machine" (1889) may have been coined c.1878 by Thomas Edison (perhaps with the notion of an insect getting into the works). Meaning "person obsessed by an idea" (e.g. firebug) is from 1841, perhaps from notion of persistence. Sense of "microbe, germ" is from 1919. Bugs "crazy" is from c.1900. Bug juice as a slang name for drink is from 1869, originally "bad whiskey." The 1811 slang dictionary has bug-hunter "an upholsterer." Bug-word "word or words meant to irritate and vex" is from 1560s.
  • verb bother, disturb
  • verb listen to without permission
Example sentences :
  • Wain was a smooth customer who bugged his eyes and lost some of his tan when he saw the sheaf of bills.
  • Extract from : « Deathworld » by Harry Harrison
  • I was a 17-year-old girl from the suburbs wearing a big coat and staring at her shoelaces, but no one bugged me.
  • Extract from : « Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town » by Cory Doctorow
  • His place was bugged, all right, but somehow the Galactic had managed to nullify their instruments!
  • Extract from : « A World by the Tale » by Gordon Randall Garrett
  • But J. Bayard's programme for helpin' Royce break into the younger set is bugged for fair.
  • Extract from : « Shorty McCabe on the Job » by Sewell Ford

Synonyms for bugged

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019