hobgoblin

[ hob-gob-lin ]

See synonyms for hobgoblin on Thesaurus.com

noun

something causing superstitious fear; a bogy.
a mischievous goblin.

Hobgoblin. Puck (def. 1).

Origin of hobgoblin

First recorded in 1520–30; hob² + goblin

Words Nearby hobgoblin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hobgoblin in a sentence

To the speechwriters, he was the hobgoblin of editors, demanding we cram in more statistics, more attacks, more examples.
The Rove You Don't Know | Matt Latimer | March 9, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
Robin Goodfellow, the Puck, or hobgoblin, is however essentially mischievous.
The Sources and Analogues of 'A Midsummer-night's Dream' | Compiled by Frank Sidgwick
I'll put me on my great carnation nose, and wrap me in a rousing calf-skin suit, and come like some hobgoblin.
The Peace Egg and Other tales | Juliana Horatia Ewing
Being at one time troubled with illusions, I have myself crushed a hobgoblin by sitting on its lap.
The International Monthly, Volume 5, No. 3, March, 1852 | Various
And wasnt Granny kind to show us how to make it into so strange a hobgoblin of a creature as is our Jack?
Boys and Girls of Colonial Days | Carolyn Sherwin Bailey

The second hobgoblin will be there, a mighty Ghost of valor.
Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama | Walter L. Fleming

British Dictionary definitions for hobgoblin

hobgoblin

/ (ˌhɒbˈɡɒblɪn) /

noun

an evil or mischievous goblin
a bogey; bugbear

Origin of hobgoblin

C16: from hob ² + goblin

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

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