1
as in fairy
an imaginary being usually having a small human form and magical powers
in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, Puck is a hobgoblin who plays pranks such as spoiling milk and tripping old ladies
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in dread
something or someone that causes fear or dread especially without reason
the fear of success and the pressures that come with it can be more of a hobgoblin than the possibility of failure
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 hobgoblin
Gleeson’s Puck is a malevolent hobgoblin who serves as the royal jester to King Auberon of Faerie.
—
Denise Petski, Deadline, 2 July 2024
Sightings of the mythical Nain Rouge, a red hobgoblin or dwarf that appears on the eve of tragedy, date to Detroit's origin — and locals have reclaimed the spirit with an annual march to scare the demon away, according to tradition.
—Detroit Free Press, 24 Mar. 2024
As Ralph Waldo Emerson might have said in an essay of the same name (and did), a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds; Tommy seems to feel his brain shrinking along with his life.
—John Anderson, WSJ, 9 Jan. 2024
Consistency is the hobgoblin of large language models.
—Brianne Kane, Scientific American, 29 Sep. 2023
See All Example Sentences for hobgoblin
Denise Petski, Deadline, 2 July 2024
Sightings of the mythical Nain Rouge, a red hobgoblin or dwarf that appears on the eve of tragedy, date to Detroit's origin — and locals have reclaimed the spirit with an annual march to scare the demon away, according to tradition.
—Detroit Free Press, 24 Mar. 2024
As Ralph Waldo Emerson might have said in an essay of the same name (and did), a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds; Tommy seems to feel his brain shrinking along with his life.
—John Anderson, WSJ, 9 Jan. 2024
Consistency is the hobgoblin of large language models.
—Brianne Kane, Scientific American, 29 Sep. 2023
See All Example Sentences for hobgoblin
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hobgoblin
Noun
-
In podcasts, internet-comment sections, the replies to his viral Instagram videos, and stories from his friends and colleagues, Fleming is described as a Muppet, a fairy, a prophet, a cartoon.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2026
-
Poppies and lupines made surprise appearances in January joining more traditional early bloomers like fairy duster and chuparosa.—
Roger Naylor,
AZCentral.com,
21 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
As your host, Lizzie Burder makes for very enjoyable company, deftly mixing child-like enthusiasm with just enough frantic dread to convince you that this whole operation could turn dangerous at any moment.—
Rob Hubbard,
Twin Cities,
7 Mar. 2026
-
The golf world watched the final stretch with that familiar mixture of tension and dread.—
Mike Bianchi,
The Orlando Sentinel,
7 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The theft follows a similar incident in December, when members of the same group flooded into a Montreal grocery store dressed as Santa Clause and his elves, stealing food and leaving some of it gift-wrapped under a nearby Christmas tree.—
Max Saltman,
CNN Money,
4 Feb. 2026
-
One of Magnason’s first jobs was at the National Archives of Iceland, where he was surrounded by books about the old Norse gods, colonial histories, and even stories about elves.—
Marya E. Gates,
IndieWire,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
But an industry that went from celebrating a movie about an Iranian ogre kidnapping an American woman to movies about Iranian people themselves held hostage by a tyrannical state showed exactly why cinematic choices matter.—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Here, a fairy tale-level ogre in Lorincz gets the benefit of the doubt from police because of her whiteness.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
29 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Meet the goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni), a predator so rare that fewer than 250 individuals have ever been recorded worldwide.—
Melissa Cristina Márquez,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
-
The plot follows a young girl who ends up wishing away her baby brother into the goblin labyrinth.—
Lucia Cheng,
Des Moines Register,
14 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Her taste for wicked, wildly inventive terror continues to make the increasingly beloved festival’s bite-sized offerings one of its most reliable highlights.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Kayumi meanwhile allegedly told investigators he was affiliated with ISIS and watched the terror group’s propaganda on his phone.—
Emma Seiwell,
New York Daily News,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
To make the garden more sustainable and less reliant on mowing, Johnson replaced part of the front lawn with dwarf mondo grass.—
Lennie Omalza,
Louisville Courier Journal,
5 Mar. 2026
-
When his uncle Larry Tisch bought CBS, Spy called him a dwarf billionaire.—
Elise Taylor,
Vanity Fair,
3 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Timings, though, can often be a bugbear.—
Philip Buckingham,
New York Times,
5 Mar. 2026
-
The turbulence created in a car’s wake is the eternal bugbear of F1 fans and rulemakers.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hobgoblin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hobgoblin. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
