gremlin

[ grem-lin ]

See synonyms for gremlin on Thesaurus.com

noun

a mischievous invisible being, said by airplane pilots in World War II to cause engine trouble and mechanical difficulties.
any cause of trouble, difficulties, etc., especially in a mechanical, electrical, computer, or other system: A loose wire was the gremlin that blew out the lights.

Origin of gremlin

First recorded in 1925–30; of obscure origin; in its earliest attested use, an RAF term for a low-ranking officer or enlisted man assigned the most onerous duties; later development perhaps affected by phonetic resemblance to goblin

synonym study For gremlin

1. See goblin.

Words Nearby gremlin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use gremlin in a sentence

Whatever psychological gremlin gave birth to Snow’s split vision of science and the humanities, the novelist and scientist saw them as equals.
Who Said Science and Art Were Two Cultures? - Issue 108: Change | Kevin Berger | November 17, 2021 | Nautilus
One of those Gremlins latched onto and was loaded inside the C-130.
Watch a C-130 cargo plane grab a drone out of the sky | Kelsey D. Atherton | November 8, 2021 | Popular-Science
With Gremlins able to land on airborne carriers, like C-130 transport planes, the ability to take on new weapons could keep those same drones fighting for longer.
DARPA’s Gremlin drones could be reloaded while airborne | Rob Verger | June 16, 2021 | Popular-Science
It was the kind that gets louder with every glare, like you’re feeding a gremlin and making the nuisance more powerful.
You Should Absolutely Go Back to the Movies. I Did. And Cried. (A Lot.) | Kevin Fallon | May 28, 2021 | The Daily Beast
In the game, characters try to avoid things like stress monsters and gremlins, which is a humorous take on the anxieties of 2020.
This Week in Apps: Apple bans party app, China loses 39K iOS games, TikTok births a ‘Ratatousical’ | Sarah Perez | January 2, 2021 | TechCrunch

You can put mag wheels on a gremlin,” commented one long time Michigan observer, “but that doesn't make it a Mustang.
The Rustbelt Roars Back From the Dead | Joel Kotkin, Richey Piiparinen | December 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
“You can put mag wheels on a gremlin,” comments one long-time Michigan observer.
Richard Florida Concedes the Limits of the Creative Class | Joel Kotkin | March 20, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Whatever the gremlin was, it wasn't exactly an auspicious start for a fifty million-mile hop.
Deepfreeze | Robert Donald Locke

British Dictionary definitions for gremlin

gremlin

/ (ˈɡrɛmlɪn) /

noun

an imaginary imp jokingly said to be responsible for malfunctions in machinery
any mischievous troublemaker

Origin of gremlin

C20: perhaps a corruption of goblin

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

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