What had once been a bugbear was now a bullish sign of growth.
Then came tho report of the committee on demands, anticipation of which has been a sort of bugbear to the delegates.
He avers that this civil service pension list is simply a bugbear held up by the opponents of reform.
British Dictionary definitions for bugbear
bugbear
/ˈbʌɡˌbɛə/
noun
1.
a thing that causes obsessive fear or anxiety
2.
(in English folklore) a goblin said to eat naughty children and thought to be in the form of a bear
Word Origin
C16: from bug² + bear²; compare bugaboo
Word Origin and History for bugbear
n.
1580s, a sort of demon in the form of a bear that eats small children, also "object of dread" (whether real or not), from obsolete bug "goblin, scarecrow" (see bug (n.)) + bear (n.).