hobby

[hob-ee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hobby ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural hob·bies.

an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation: Her hobbies include stamp-collecting and woodcarving.

a child's hobbyhorse.

Archaic. a small horse.

Idioms

ride a hobby, to concern oneself excessively with a favorite notion or activity.Also ride a hobbyhorse.

Origin of hobby

1325–75; Middle English hoby(n), probably for Robin, or Robert (cf. hob²), used as horse's name, as in dobbin

Related formshob·by·ist, nounhob·by·less, adjective

hobby

[hob-ee]

noun, plural hob·bies.

a small Old World falcon, Falco subbuteo, formerly flown at such small game as larks.

Origin of hobby

1400–50; late Middle English hoby < Middle French hobé, suffixal variant of Middle French, Old French hobel (compare French hobereau), probably noun derivative of hobeler to skirmish, harass, perhaps < Middle Dutch hob(b)elen to turn, roll; compare Dutch hobbelen to rock, jolt (cf. hobble)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for hobbies

art, specialty, avocation, diversion, craft, amusement, fun, sport, obsession, fad, occupation, play, sideline, shot, vagary, thing, weakness, whimsy, fancy, bag

Examples from the Web for hobbies

Contemporary Examples of hobbies

Did you two engage in any hobbies or games together in your downtime?
‘Game of Thrones’ Star Maisie Williams on Arya Stark’s S4 Journey and Her Crush on Andrew Garfield
Marlow Stern
June 23, 2014
But my parents also left me with a dearth of hobbies that make admissions committees salivate.
The Absurd Lies of College Admissions
Megan McArdle
April 1, 2013
The bottom line: we have our jobs, we work on those; we have our hobbies, we work on those; we have our bodies, we work on those.
The Secrets of Happy Families: Bruce Feiler’s Tips for Parenting
Bruce Feiler
March 3, 2013
My father had no hobbies and spent what little free time he had helping my Mom take care of us.
Why I Choose to Be Child-Free: Readers Share Their Stories
Harry Siegel
February 27, 2013
In an online bio, she describes her hobbies as running, skiing, and surfing.
Paula Broadwell, David Petraeus’s Biographer, Is Allegedly His Mistress
Isabel Wilkinson
November 10, 2012

Historical Examples of hobbies

Whately was a man of hobbies, and horticulture was one of these.
Charles Lever, His Life in His Letters, Vol. I (of II)
Edmund Downey
But the true man of that type had found all hobbies fail him.
Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens
G. K. Chesterton
But the world, Auberon, the real world, is not run on these hobbies.
The Napoleon of Notting Hill
Gilbert K. Chesterton
He chooses his hobbies and “rides” them entirely on his own initiative.
The Measurement of Intelligence
Lewis Madison Terman
Cochran knew the Major intimately, his hobbies and aversions.
Terry
Charles Goff Thomson

British Dictionary definitions for hobbies

hobby

noun plural -bies

an activity pursued in spare time for pleasure or relaxation

archaic, or dialect a small horse or pony

short for hobbyhorse (def. 1)

an early form of bicycle, without pedals

Derived Formshobbyist, noun

Word Origin for hobby

C14 hobyn, probably variant of proper name Robin; compare dobbin

hobby

noun plural -bies

any of several small Old World falcons, esp the European Falco subbuteo, formerly used in falconry

Word Origin for hobby

C15: from Old French hobet, from hobe falcon; probably related to Middle Dutch hobbelen to roll, turn

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

Word Origin and History for hobbies

hobby

late 13c., hobyn, "small horse, pony," later "mock horse used in the morris dance," and c.1550 "child's toy riding horse," which led to hobby-horse in a transferred sense of "favorite pastime or avocation," first recorded 1670s, shortened to hobby by 1816. The connecting notion being "activity that doesn't go anywhere." Probably originally a proper name for a horse (cf. dobbin), a diminutive of Robert or Robin. The original hobbyhorse was a "Tourney Horse," a wooden or basketwork frame worn around the waist and held on with shoulder straps, with a fake tail and horse head attached, so the wearer appears to be riding a horse. These were part of church and civic celebrations at Midsummer and New Year's throughout England.