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
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
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
Astin, known for portraying Frodo’s loyal hobbit friend, Samwise Gamgee, in the Peter Jackson-directed fantasy trilogy, now finds himself headed to a different kind of stage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2025
Though he did not say so to Bilbo, he also thought it important, and disturbing, to find that the good hobbit had not told the truth from the first: quite contrary to his habit.
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
"It's possible that as the hobbits moved in search of water and prey, they encountered modern humans," Dr. Gagan said.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 19, 2026
But the three in the back had better be hobbits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 11, 2025
Here, it was pure joy to watch HORA’s actors embrace their inner hobbits, dwarves, wizards, orcs and elves — including one that yodels!
From New York Times ● May 10, 2024
The hobbits regretted very much that they knew so little about them: only a rather vague report by Sam of what Gandalf had told the Council.
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.
