hobgoblins

noun

plural of hobgoblin
1
as in elves
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

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2
as in dreads
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 hobgoblins In another fates-or-hobgoblins moment, a discombobulated Washington had started a war. — Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hobgoblins
  1. elves
  2. dreads
  3. fairies
  4. terrors
  5. goblins
  6. ogres
  7. dwarfs
  8. spirits
Noun
  • And many, perhaps understandably, choose to escape into romances involving elves and hockey players.
    — Julia Vitale, airmail.news, 29 Oct. 2026
  • From holiday crafts and movie nights to cookie decorating and storytime with Santa’s elves, there’s plenty to keep little ones occupied.
    — Alexandra Emanuelli, Southern Living, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of elves
Noun
  • Royals, who has typically sported some of the team’s most stylish hair, cut his dreads last week.
    — Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 23 Sep. 2026
  • He's described by officials as a Black male in his late teens with a medium-large build and thick dreads.
    — Nick Lentz, CBS News, 15 June 2026
Definition of dreads
Noun
  • Saturday, utilizes 56,000 square feet of indoor space to host more than 200 vendors, sword-fighting, costume contests, live musicians, mermaids, fairies and photo ops.
    — Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 20 Aug. 2026
  • 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
Definition of fairies
Noun
  • Although the film is not true to some parts of the book, which caused some controversy among staunch King fans, Kubrick does bring to life the terrors King so aptly wrote about, including domestic abuse, isolation, helplessness, and alcoholism.
    — Radhika Seth, Vogue, 29 Oct. 2026
  • At scale, migrants and their descendants recreate the conditions, and terrors, of their broken homelands.
    — Claudia Boyd-Barrett, CBS News, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of terrors
Noun
  • From glittering ghosts, ghastly goblins and wicked witches to wily warlocks, fashion can inspire any Halloween transformation.
    — Tonya Blazio-Licorish, Footwear News, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Many would rather experience nightstalkers, goblins and witches that can't escape the theater or TV screen, or zombies and werewolves that won't lunge off the pages of a book.
    — Ayesha Rascoe, NPR, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of goblins
Noun
  • Of course ogres and adversaries can shift shapes over decades.
    — Scott Simon, NPR, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Ella is a young woman cursed to obey all instructions whose quest for self-determination also turns her into an advocate for the kingdom’s oppressed elves and ogres.
    — Chris Bellamy, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of ogres
Noun
  • As far as fairytales go, dwarfs can be Bashful, Sleepy, Grumpy or Dopey.
    — Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Watching all ten members sing at once is funny the way the seven dwarves all sleeping in their little beds next to each other is funny.
    — Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of dwarfs
Noun
  • Vallow Daybell holds doomsday religious beliefs and has claimed that people in her life were possessed by evil spirits.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 Nov. 2026
  • This can be especially uncomfortable when the prevailing narrative holds its own special significance, but pondering such complexities strengthens our minds and our spirits.
    — AJ Willingham, AJC.com, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of spirits

Browse Nearby Words

hobgoblin
hobgoblins
hobnob
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Cite this Entry

“Hobgoblins.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hobgoblins. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

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