bogey

Meaning

1. The Devil.
2. A ghost, goblin, or other hostile supernatural creature.
3. A bugbear: any terrifying thing.
4. A standard of performance set up as a mark to be aimed at in competition.
5. An unidentified aircraft, especially as observed as a spot on a radar screen and suspected to be hostile.
6. (slang) Synonym of bandit: an enemy aircraft.
7. A score of one over par on a hole.
8. Alternative form of booger: a piece of mucus in or removed from the nostril.

Frequency

Hyphenated as

bo‧gey

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bəʊɡi/

Probably related to or alteration of bogle, akin to or from a variant of Middle English bugge (“frightening specter, scarecrow”) (whence partly bug), of uncertain origin: perhaps from obsolete Welsh bwg (“ghost, hobgoblin”) (compare Welsh bwgwl (“threat”, older “fear”), Irish bagairt (“threat”)), from Proto-Celtic [Term?], or 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”), 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.

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