Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Definitions

bug

[buhg] / bʌg /
NOUN
bacterium, microorganism
Synonyms






VERB
listen to without permission
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

As much as it might bug some of us to admit it, there are a few areas where the president excels.

From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026

Instead, my professor’s teaching assistants, who were doctoral students, said I had a bug in my program and they had failed to establish sufficient guardrails to prevent it from causing harm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

OpenAI said on X that it considered the bug "one of the most impactful vulnerabilities in recent memory," adding that it "marks a new phase, where AI can find security bugs with internet-scale impact."

From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026

That specific failure is a bug, but being comfortable with its possibility is a feature.

From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2026

Whipped up his notebook, picked himself a bug off the floor, then launched that little critter right into Katia Mavchek’s hair.

From "Worth" by A. LaFaye

The bugs let a stranger take over any website.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

She's also given up on cycling to the local parks where she previously enjoyed taking close-up photos of the bugs, lizards and toads.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

While some companies frequently patch their software and build harnesses for AI models, others don’t, Batta said—underscoring the scramble that businesses are facing to patch newly uncovered bugs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

But experts have warned that the incident shows how quickly and easily bugs which have lain long dormant may be surfaced - and potentially exploited - using AI.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

Some of the cases have rocks and moss and long, slithery bugs crawling in them, and others are filled with water and colorful fish.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

They knew every room was bugged, every driver was an informant, every bit of luggage was open to query.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

Now it has become a museum called Trent Park House of Secrets, which highlights the role of the team of German speakers, most of them Jewish refugees, who transcribed titbits from the prisoners' bugged conversations.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

She told documentary makers: "I think that bugged me more than anything. It was never reported correctly at all. I was not a 'friend'."

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2025

He dated actress Amber Heard, giving her Teslas as gifts, but she later worried they were bugged, because she said he was "controlling."

From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2025

KGB observers bugged CIA agents' phones and cataloged their daily routines.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau

Plus, U.S. airstrikes are failing to stop the global cocaine boom, and a Saudi national is charged with bugging OpenAI’s office.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

“Everybody’s been bugging me. They’re saying, ‘Would you do me a favor?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

I’m like, “I have a headphone in my ear and I’m really busy working. You’re kind of bugging me right now.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2026

“What is bugging me is I think our voter rolls may be more accurate than this database,” Phillips said.

From Salon ● Feb. 27, 2026

For a while it sounded like old times with me playing chauffeur and you bugging me from the backseat.”

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole


Vocabulary lists containing bug

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training