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
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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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hobgoblin
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
The narrative unfolds communally around a table, with plenty of backtracking, retconning, and joking—and avoiding the small-minded hobgoblins of consistency and rules-lawyering.
—Ethan Gilsdorf, WIRED, 27 June 2023
See All Example Sentences for hobgoblin
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
The narrative unfolds communally around a table, with plenty of backtracking, retconning, and joking—and avoiding the small-minded hobgoblins of consistency and rules-lawyering.
—Ethan Gilsdorf, WIRED, 27 June 2023
See All Example Sentences for hobgoblin
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hobgoblin
Noun
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Dozens of dogs dressed as alligators, fairies and superheroes gathered Saturday at a Rio de Janeiro Carnival street party as their owners protested cruelty against pets.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 Feb. 2026
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Families will find the fairy train running through the trees, and there’s an activities station for children.—
Jim Harrington,
Mercury News,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Other parents expressed disappointment or dread when babies appeared too dark.—
Dorothy Roberts,
Time,
13 Feb. 2026
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But the have-funs and the have-existential-dreads of the hockey community are every bit as clear.—
Mark Lazerus,
New York Times,
12 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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
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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
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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
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The show starts, as many anime romances do, with a childhood friendship, here between the chaotic witch-in-training Nico and the taciturn ogre Morihito.—
Kambole Campbell,
Vulture,
9 Dec. 2025
Noun
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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
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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
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What first reads like random abuse escalates into a relentless campaign of terror against Mats and his family, as the situation begins to uncover a dark, multi-layered story rooted more than 40 years earlier.—
Emiliano De Pablos,
Variety,
17 Feb. 2026
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But also the pesky ones, like your terror and your existential dread.—
Catherine Mevs,
New Yorker,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
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This dwarf variety produces slender, upright branches that, if left unpruned, put forth a graceful weeping habit.—
SJ McShane,
Martha Stewart,
16 Feb. 2026
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Some others that would be affected include dwarf schefflera, dracaenas, begonias, ficus, philodendrons, aglaonemas and peace lilies.—
Tom MacCubbin,
The Orlando Sentinel,
14 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Take The Mandibles, a book that revolves around the national debt, long a bugbear of hers.—
Adelle Waldman,
The Atlantic,
10 Feb. 2026
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The question of how to fly with a cello is a bugbear among many string players.—
John Phipps,
New Yorker,
17 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hobgoblin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hobgoblin. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
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