gremlin
noun
a mischievous invisible being, said by airplane pilots in World War II to cause engine trouble and mechanical difficulties.
gremlins
-
pluralof gremlin.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
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.
In a blog post titled “Where the goblins came from,” it said that a safety researcher had flagged several mentions of goblins and gremlins while testing a model released in November.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
OpenAI said it first noticed increased mentions of goblins, gremlins and other creatures after the launch of GPT-5.1 in November.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026
As mechanized as a race — or a movie — can feel, success or failure hinge on the human element, the hero battling the gremlins in the machine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2025
Whatever qualms I had were the kind of technical gremlins that taunt any opening night.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 16, 2022
A beleaguered sprite was sheltering behind her ticket desk, besieged by angry gremlins.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
