1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

hobbyhorses

noun

plural of hobbyhorse
as in pursuits
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

Relevance

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 hobbyhorses Eccentricities, crotchets, and hobbyhorses are such interesting intellectual drivers. — Clare Bucknell, The New York Review of Books, 27 June 2026 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hobbyhorses
  1. pursuits
  2. sports
  3. hobbies
  4. amusements
Noun
  • However, the unsuccessful pursuits of Vinicius Junior and Julian Alvarez, sagas that ended with both players staying at their Madrid clubs, Real and Atletico respectively, perhaps made acknowledgement of a couple of things.
    — James Horncastle, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
  • For all his disparate pursuits, Elsesser revels in the small details, incapable of giving anything less than total dedication.
    — Jeff Weiss, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of pursuits
Noun
  • Posing for the sports trading app Novig, Sweeney has stirred a debate regarding oversexualization in the world of advertising.
    — Theara Coleman, TheWeek, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Tight end Travis Kelce doesn’t seem to be one to keep many of his sports mementos, and the proof could be seen in that storage locker full of his goodies that a man happened to find a year ago.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of sports
Noun
  • One of my hobbies is to read first-party, contemporaneous accounts of previous technological revolutions.
    — Fortune Editors, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2026
  • But Bernie has never had a go, which is why his eye wanders to an advert in the local newspaper (one of Bernie’s hobbies, apart from keeping his toenail clippings in a jar, is cutting out obituaries).
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of hobbies
Noun
  • Many travelers speed right by on their way to the flashy amusements of Kemah or Galveston’s sandy beaches.
    — Gabi De la Rosa, Southern Living, 29 July 2026
  • Down a dark stairway is the murky world of Bronc’s Tack Room bar, a cavern with pool tables and the usual Stockyards amusements.
    — Bud Kennedy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 July 2026
Definition of amusements

Browse Nearby Words

hobbyhorse
hobbyhorses
hobbyist
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hobbyhorses.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hobbyhorses. Accessed 17 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of watershed

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All