: an ugly or grotesque sprite that is usually mischievous and sometimes evil and malicious
Examples of goblin in a Sentence
dressed up the toddlers like goblins for Halloween
Recent Examples on the Web
The kallikantzaroi are a group of blind, black goblins who live underground during most of the year sawing at the world tree – a motif throughout various folklores that connects the heavens to the Earth.
—
Carlie Procell, USA Today, 20 Dec. 2025
On this day, candles were blessed for use in the coming year, and any decorations left up were thought to be at risk of becoming infested with goblins.
—Bobbi Sutherland, The Conversation, 19 Dec. 2025
There’s also a lot of, to use a more modern phrase, goblin energy to these cartoons.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 11 Dec. 2025
He can be seen enjoying Ghosts ’n Goblins, the first entry in an ongoing franchise in which characters in a fantasy kingdom have to defeat a variety of, well, ghosts ’n goblins (and other foes).
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 27 Nov. 2025
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Carlie Procell, USA Today, 20 Dec. 2025
On this day, candles were blessed for use in the coming year, and any decorations left up were thought to be at risk of becoming infested with goblins.
—Bobbi Sutherland, The Conversation, 19 Dec. 2025
There’s also a lot of, to use a more modern phrase, goblin energy to these cartoons.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 11 Dec. 2025
He can be seen enjoying Ghosts ’n Goblins, the first entry in an ongoing franchise in which characters in a fantasy kingdom have to defeat a variety of, well, ghosts ’n goblins (and other foes).
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 27 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for goblin
Cite this Entry
“Goblin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/goblin. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
goblin
noun
gob·lin
ˈgäb-lən 
: an ugly, evil, or mischievous elf
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