elf

noun

ˈelf How to pronounce elf (audio)
Definition of elfnext
as in fairy
an imaginary being usually having a small human form and magical powers elves are often portrayed as rather mischievous

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of elf The new version will still have the traditional arrow counting down the days to the holiday but also will include moving elves who are helping prepare things for Christmas. — Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 30 May 2026 Eager to prove herself, Goldie, Jerri’s ambitious elf assistant, is sent from sunny California to shut down the world’s last traditional toy workshop, hidden deep in the rainy British countryside. — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 6 May 2026 There’s also caviar and cookies and Christmas trees and Housewives and Bravolebrities, all surrounded by twink elves in Christmas G-strings. — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 4 May 2026 The company behind that trio of elves, some of the most iconic mascots in pop culture, is the same corporation that put breakfast on the table in the first place. — Heather Bushman, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for elf
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elf
  1. fairy
  2. dwarf
  3. goblin
  4. faerie
Noun
  • The countless repetitions give you the most beautiful art form where swans glide, fairies dance and every year a giant nutcracker appears.
    — Chrissie Leong, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2026
  • Would the scary girls with fairy wings still be hanging around a trust-fund junkie with a tank of nitrous?
    — Claire Howorth, Vanity Fair, 29 July 2026
Definition of fairy
Noun
  • Around the dozens of containers that make Toolik the US’s largest research station in the Arctic, musk ox and caribou graze on dwarf birches and fragrant labrador tea, while Arctic ground squirrels pop out of their burrows to survey the tundra.
    — Denise Hruby, Miami Herald, 31 July 2026
  • The two planets, named TOI-791 b and TOI-791 c, orbit an F7-type dwarf star roughly 1,110 light years away in the southern constellation of Volans.
    — Chris Young July 30, Refractor, 30 July 2026
Definition of dwarf
Noun
  • Two years ago, the Man City phenom appeared in a 90-second spot for the game that saw him get recruited to storm a castle teeming with goblins, dragons and impish skeletons.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 26 June 2026
  • Follow the babe with the power into Jim Henson’s gloriously weird fantasy wonderland, where goblins sing, doors argue, and David Bowie’s Goblin King serves enough glam-rock charisma to power an entire kingdom.
    — Arushi Jacob, Variety, 24 June 2026
Definition of goblin
Noun
  • Maeve learns that the legends she was raised on — stories of faeries, kelpies and seelies — are actually true.
    — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 22 May 2026
  • The plays are set in locations as varied as courts, forests, battlefields, and even the realm of faerie.
    — Gitanjali Roy, Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Apr. 2026
Definition of faerie

Browse Nearby Words

eleventh hours
elf
elfin
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Cite this Entry

“Elf.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elf. Accessed 3 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on elf

Nglish: Translation of elf for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about elf

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