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"What is a hobbit?" wrote J.R.R. Tolkien in the 1937 fantasy novel that introduced Mr. Bilbo Baggins. The author then answered himself: "They are (or were) little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded Dwarves. ... There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along ..." Tolkien tells us that hobbits "are inclined to be fat," and that they "dress in bright colours"; they "have good-natured faces, and deep fruity laughs (especially after dinner)." Tolkien, a professional linguist who taught at Oxford, coined the word hobbit (and many other terms—in fact, a whole new language) for The Hobbit and for his enormously popular three-part novel The Lord of the Rings.
Examples of hobbit in a Sentence
Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 11 July 2025
As Kelli storms off, Brit yells the distasteful comment about Kelli’s abortions, following it up by calling her a hobbit, and the rest of the women reflexively gasp, knowing how low of a blow such a statement is.
—Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 23 June 2025
The postscript with the hobbits is still dull, but everything else in this still knocks you over.
35.
—Will Leitch, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2025
Look for the scenes in which the orcs attack a trio of hobbits and their companions deep in an underground mine.
—Ethan Baron, Mercury News, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hobbit
Cite this Entry
“Hobbit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hobbit. Accessed 17 Jul. 2025.
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