elves

American

[elvz] / ɛlvz /

noun

plural of elf.

elves British

/ ɛlvz /

noun

the plural of elf

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

elves Cultural

Often small, mischievous creatures thought to have magical powers. Although some elves are friendly to humans, others are spiteful and destructive. Elves have long been a staple of folklore, from Germanic mythology to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, in which the elves speak a special language called Elvish.

Example Sentences

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elves

More than 25,000 people attend the annual SantaCon event in New York City, dressed up as Santa Claus, elves and other holiday characters.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026

You can watch our soldiers rappel out of one of the Seahawks just like Santa’s elves.

From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2025

It's not every day that Father Christmas finds himself briefing his elves about the hazards of sunstroke, but this summer northern Finland has seen temperatures hover around 30C for days on end.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2025

When the topic turns to her bookshelf, Thurman admits she’s become a fan of stories of orcs and elves in love.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2025

Two elves clad in white steered it with black paddles.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023