/bəʊɡi/, /boʊɡi/
OriginProbably related to or alteration of bogle, akin to or from a variant of Middle English bugge (“frightening specter, scarecrow”) (whence bug), itself of uncertain origin: perhaps from obsolete Welsh bwg (“ghost, hobgoblin”); compare Welsh bwgwl (“threat”, older “fear”), Irish bagairt (“threat”), but perhaps the root was borrowed from Germanic. Otherwise from Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”); compare Norwegian bugge (“big man”), dialectal Low German Bögge and Alemannic German Böögg (“goblin”, “snot”).
See also Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“a goblin, spook”), Old English pūca (“goblin, mischievous spirit”), Icelandic púki Swedish puke (“small devil, spook”), whence obsolete English puck. Perhaps the Middle English and Welsh words come from a word related to buck and originally referred to a goat-shaped specter. Compare also booger.
The golf sense is from the devil as an imaginary player. The sometimes proscribed conflation with bandit was popularized by the 1986 film Top Gun.
- A ghost, goblin, or other hostile supernatural creature.
- archaic, capitalized, often, usually, with-definite-articleThe Devil.
- figurativelyA bugbear: any terrifying thing.
“If one man could be said to be responsible for the creation of the Russian bogy, it was a much-decorated British general named Sir Robert Wilson.”
“Religious divides [among Protestants] went deep — this is evident from the reams of sermons and theological polemics published and avidly read — and only bashing the old bogey of Romism ('No Popery!')”
“England could have been forgiven for believing the fates were against them as they trailed to their League A Group Four opponents, who have become something of a bogey side over the years.”
- British, slangA police officer.
- A standard of performance set up as a mark to be aimed at in competition.
- An unidentified aircraft, especially as observed as a spot on a radar screen and suspected to be hostile.
“He stood on the sand near the gravel road that passed within two miles of the site of the disintegrated bogey, binoculars hanging on a leather strap from his neck, face streaming with sweat under the ”
- proscribed, slangSynonym of bandit: an enemy aircraft.
“God dammit, Mustang! This is Ghost Rider 117. This bogey is all over me. He's got missile lock on me. Do I have permission to fire?”
- The notional opponent of a golfer playing alone.
“‘I was just having a practice round against bogey,’ he said. ‘I caddied for myself, so there were no witnesses.’”
- A score of one over par on a hole.
- UKA piece of mucus in or removed from the nostril; a booger.
- UKA bog-standard (representative) specimen taken from the center of production.
- AustraliaA swim or bathe; a bath.
“My mother would use leaves from trees to make soap for washing our bodies with, and unfortunately for us kids there was no excuse not to take a bogey.”
- ambitransitiveTo make a bogey on (a particular hole).
- AustraliaTo swim; to bathe.
- A male given name.
“Bogey's voice is breaking. When he speaks he rushes up and down the scale.”
- informalHumphrey Bogart (1899–1957), American film and stage actor.
“In quintessential roles, Bogart and Bergman are former lovers reunited in wartorn Casablanca. Bogey is the cynical cafe owner who lives by his own moral code and sticks his neck out for “no one.””
Formsbogeys(plural) · bogie(alternative) · bogy(alternative) · bogeys(present, singular, third-person) · bogeying(participle, present) · bogeyed(participle, past) · bogeyed(past) · bogied(participle, past) · bogied(past)