hobbit
Americannoun
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a member of a race of imaginary creatures related to and resembling humans, living in underground holes and characterized by their good nature, diminutive size, and hairy feet.
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a nickname for Homo floresiensis.
noun
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one of an imaginary race of half-size people living in holes
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a nickname used for a very small type of primitive human, Homo floresiensis , following the discovery of remains of eight such people on the Island of Flores, Indonesia, in 2004
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hobbit
1937; coined by J. R. R. Tolkien in his fantasy novel “The Hobbit”
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.
Mock, who reread The Lord of the Rings every year from fourth grade through ninth grade, has simpler dreams: “a hobbit hole out in the countryside, and as little as possible.”
From Slate • May 28, 2026
IGLOO, S. D.—Row upon row of concrete bunkers with steel blast doors peek up from the rolling grasslands—like hobbit holes for the apocalypse.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026
Nicknamed the hobbit because of its small stature, the species challenged long-standing ideas about human evolution.
From Science Daily • Feb. 19, 2026
But if we adjust the details a bit, that sounds awfully close to Elon Musk’s lazy storybook fantasies about charming hobbit villages protected by “hard men.”
From Salon • Nov. 16, 2025
‘Most noble hobbit, it leaves me deep in your debt.’
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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.
