goblin
Americannoun
-
goblins
plural
noun
Synonym Usage
Goblin, gnome, gremlin refer to supernatural beings thought to be malevolent to people. Goblins are demons of any size, usually in human or animal form, that are supposed to assail, afflict, and even torture human beings: “Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd, …” (Shakespeare, Hamlet I, iv ). Gnomes are small beings, like ugly little old men, who live in the earth, guarding mines, treasures, etc. They are mysteriously malevolent and terrify human beings by causing dreadful mishaps to occur. Gremlins are thought to disrupt machinery and are active in modern folklore.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of goblin
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English gobelin, from Middle French, from Middle High German kobold “goblin”; see kobold
Explanation
In fairy tales, goblins are mischievous, magical creatures. While fairies and gnomes are often portrayed as kind, goblins are usually malicious troublemakers. In the 1500s, a goblin was defined as "a mischievous and ugly fairy" or "a devil." Since then some fictional goblins have been slightly less menacing than that original definition suggests, but these mean little creatures are almost never the heroes of the stories in which they appear. In the Harry Potter books, dangerous goblins control the wizard banks, and the Spiderman films include several malevolent goblins among their antagonists.
Vocabulary lists containing goblin
Unit 2, Words to Know
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
A Mythical Menagerie
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Summer of the Monkeys
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The new research, published in the Journal of Fish Biology, reports two healthy goblin sharks observed in the wild.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026
The rare, and many say ugly, goblin shark is seen alive for the first time.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 12, 2026
It’s like, wait, why not go full goblin mode?
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
Several users speculated that goblin terminology was how the model characterized itself, in lieu of identifying as a person with a soul.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
The gray goblin from the Ministry of Secrets paused by the door.
From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
He said he counted more than 20 times it mentioned goblins, without any prompting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
It found this system had been unwittingly incentivised to mention goblins, gremlins and other creatures more in metaphors.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026
Apparently, if left to its own devices, OpenAI’s Codex coding agent is apt to repeatedly talk about goblins apropos of nothing.
From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026
We are in our laboratories playing God with machine networks and not really having updated scientific language to describe the old ghouls and goblins.
From Salon ● Apr. 21, 2024
It is music that shall be heard as long as there are goblins to play it, as long as warts and pointy ears persist on this earth.”
From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
