bogeyman

See also: bogey man

English

From bogey +‎ -man.

bogeyman (plural bogeymen)

A menacing, ghost-like monster in children's stories.
(by extension) Any make-believe threat, especially one used to intimidate or distract.

menacing, ghost-like monster in children's stories

Arabic:
Moroccan Arabic: بوعو‎ m (būʿʿu), بو خنشة‎ m (bū ḵanša)
Basque: hamalau-zaku
Catalan: home del sac m, papu (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 怪物 (zh) (guàiwù), 魔鬼 (zh) (móguǐ)
Czech: bubák m
Danish: bussemand (da) c, bøhmand c
Dutch: boeman (nl) m, bietebauw (nl) m
Esperanto: infantimigulo
Estonian: koll
Finnish: mörkö (fi)
French: croque-mitaine (fr) m
Galician: sacaúntos m, coco (gl) m, sacamanteigas m, papón (gl) m
German: Butzemann (de) m
Greek: μπαμπούλας (el) m (bampoúlas)
Ancient: μορμολυκεῖον n (mormolukeîon)
Hungarian: krampusz (hu), mumus (hu)
Italian: uomo nero, babau (it)
Japanese: ブギーマン (bugīman), 小鬼 (ja) (こおに, ko-oni)
Korean: 꼬마 도깨비 (kkoma dokkaebi), 부기맨 (bugimaen)
Ladino: bambaruto
Latgalian: buba
Latin: larva f
Latvian: bubulis
Lithuanian: baubas, bubulis
Norman: croque-mitaine m, barbou m
Norwegian: busemann m
Polish: czarny lud m
Portuguese: bicho-papão m
Romanian: baubau (ro) m, omul negru m, gogoriță (ro)
Russian: бу́ка (ru) f (búka), баба́й (ru) m (babáj), страши́лище (ru) n (strašílišče), домово́й (ru) m (domovój) (in Slavic mythology), бу́гимен m (búgimɛn)
Serbo-Croatian: babaroga (sh) f, бабарога f
Spanish: coco (es), cuco (es) m, cucuy m, sacamantecas m, hombre del saco (es) m (Latin America)
Tajik: буҷӣ (bujī)
Turkish: gulyabani (tr), hortlak (tr), öcü (tr), karakoncolos (tr), umacı (tr)
Vietnamese: ngoáo ộp (vi)

any make-believe threat