hobbit
Americannoun
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hobbits
plural
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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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
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
According to Deadline, the “LOTR” project involving Colbert is tentatively titled “The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past” and is set more than a decade after the death of central hobbit Frodo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2026
Nicknamed the hobbit because of its small stature, the species challenged long-standing ideas about human evolution.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 19, 2026
A well-traveled hobbit named Trotter is revised into Aragorn, king of Gondor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
To these four volumes there was added in Westmarch a fifth containing commentaries, genealogies, and various other matter concerning the hobbit members of the Fellowship.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Colbert is planning to adapt chapters three to eight of The Fellowship of the Ring, in which Frodo and his fellow hobbits begin their epic quest.
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
Because these animals were a key food source, their drop in numbers would have placed additional pressure on the hobbits.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 19, 2026
But the three in the back had better be hobbits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 11, 2025
Mortensen “invited us hobbits to laser tag,” Wood recalls, and then they all went over to Dickerson’s studio, where Buckethead and a bunch of instruments were scattered around the room.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2024
The hobbits had no welcome for that light; unfriendly it seemed, revealing them in their helplessness — little squeaking ghosts that wandered among the ash-heaps of the Dark Lord.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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