- an offensive word used to show anger or dislike for somebody
- Come here, you little bugger!
- You stupid bugger! You could have run me over!
- Don’t let the buggers get you down.
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- used to refer to a person, especially a man, that you like or feel sympathy for
- Poor bugger! His wife left him last week.
- He's a tough old bugger.
- You daft bugger!
- [usually singular] a thing that is difficult or causes problems
- This door's a bugger to open.
- Question 6 is a real bugger.
- It’s a bugger trying to remember the lines.
Word OriginMiddle English (originally denoting a heretic): from Middle Dutch, from Old French bougre ‘heretic’, from medieval Latin Bulgarus ‘Bulgarian’, particularly one belonging to the Orthodox Church and therefore regarded as a heretic by the Roman Church. The sense ‘sodomite’ (16th cent.) arose from an association of heresy with forbidden sexual practices; its use as a general insult dates from the early 18th cent.
Idioms
play silly buggers
- (British English, informal) to behave in a stupid and annoying way
- Stop playing silly buggers and give me a hand with this!
Check pronunciation:
bugger