as in hobby
an activity outside of one's regular occupation that is engaged in primarily for pleasure
oil painting became the hobbyhorse of her long years of retirement
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hobbyhorse
Laqueur’s book has no particular thesis to hobbyhorse for, and yet a unified-field theory of aesthetic dogginess might be distilled from its pages.
—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
25 May 2026
The notion that Winston Churchill, not the German Führer, was the villain in World War II — another of Buchanan’s hobbyhorses — is again gaining ground on the right.
—
Bret Stephens,
Mercury News,
14 Nov. 2025
There must have been hundreds of them made, a stable of hobbyhorses, and one had ended up in the basement of our house in Massachusetts.
—
Cynthia Zarin,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
Old-fashioned hobbyhorses entice shoppers to imagine riding on them.
—
Melanie Stetson Freeman,
Christian Science Monitor,
31 July 2025
It is also blighted by Tanenhaus’s hobbyhorses, which are especially evident in his caviling when promoting his book.
—
The Editors,
National Review,
2 June 2025
Both parties instead must make the case that federal funding for research is not a partisan hobbyhorse but a source of long-term economic and political strength.
—
David G. Victor,
Foreign Affairs,
28 May 2025
The treatment of white farmers in South Africa has been a hobbyhorse of South African X owner Elon Musk for quite a while.
—
ArsTechnica,
14 May 2025
In 2017, the National Institutes of Health asked Hotez to meet with Kennedy to move him off the hobbyhorse of a vaccine-autism link.
—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Apr. 2025
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
25 May 2026
The notion that Winston Churchill, not the German Führer, was the villain in World War II — another of Buchanan’s hobbyhorses — is again gaining ground on the right.
—
Bret Stephens,
Mercury News,
14 Nov. 2025
There must have been hundreds of them made, a stable of hobbyhorses, and one had ended up in the basement of our house in Massachusetts.
—
Cynthia Zarin,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
Old-fashioned hobbyhorses entice shoppers to imagine riding on them.
—
Melanie Stetson Freeman,
Christian Science Monitor,
31 July 2025
It is also blighted by Tanenhaus’s hobbyhorses, which are especially evident in his caviling when promoting his book.
—
The Editors,
National Review,
2 June 2025
Both parties instead must make the case that federal funding for research is not a partisan hobbyhorse but a source of long-term economic and political strength.
—
David G. Victor,
Foreign Affairs,
28 May 2025
The treatment of white farmers in South Africa has been a hobbyhorse of South African X owner Elon Musk for quite a while.
—
ArsTechnica,
14 May 2025
In 2017, the National Institutes of Health asked Hotez to meet with Kennedy to move him off the hobbyhorse of a vaccine-autism link.
—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Apr. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hobbyhorse
Noun
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Heigl said she's worked to cater the home to her hobbies throughout the years, including an art studio located in a standalone building on the property, as well as putting her extensive yarn collection on display in their home theater.
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That’s what makes the difference between a hobby and a scalable, manufacturable, profitable product.
Noun
-
Yet The Bear has always been equally attuned to the tension at the heart of that pursuit.
-
The pursuit lasted around five minutes before the suspect successfully evaded officers.
Noun
-
In a 2023 survey by World Athletics, a global sports federation, 75% of responding athletes said the impacts of climate change are negatively affecting their health and athletic performance.
-
Follow your favorite athletes on and off the field with PEOPLE's free sports newsletter — sign up now!
Noun
-
Unlike in fields where avocations have to replace callings, academic retirees go on to pen as many articles and books as decline permits.
-
As Sottile sees it, the dog-show economy thrives on dog lovers’ sense of avocation.
Noun
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But the amusement didn’t last long.
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The fallout of that inquiry—to which Joe and Angela gamely acquiesce—generates its share of laughs, though our amusement comes at a cost.
Cite this Entry
“Hobbyhorse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hobbyhorse. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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