1
as in fairy
an imaginary being usually having a small human form and magical powers
in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, Puck is a hobgoblin who plays pranks such as spoiling milk and tripping old ladies
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2
as in dread
something or someone that causes fear or dread especially without reason
the fear of success and the pressures that come with it can be more of a hobgoblin than the possibility of failure
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Recent Examples of hobgoblin
Consistency is the hobgoblin of large language models.
—
Brianne Kane, Scientific American, 29 Sep. 2023
While the community might celebrate the hobgoblin’s induction into Detroit culture, Detroiters must always keep watch for when the Nain Rouge returns and provokes disaster.
—Kylie Martin, Detroit Free Press, 8 Aug. 2023
The narrative unfolds communally around a table, with plenty of backtracking, retconning, and joking—and avoiding the small-minded hobgoblins of consistency and rules-lawyering.
—Ethan Gilsdorf, WIRED, 27 June 2023
Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.
—John Pearley Huffman, Car and Driver, 4 Feb. 2022
See All Example Sentences for hobgoblin
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hobgoblin
Noun
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The plans put in place to find a positive way forward included the following: The Merrillville Advantage: A proactive approach of sharing the many positive attributes that a diverse student body could bring to the community instead of having an atmosphere of fear or dread.—
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However, throngs of people wading into the Ganga often stoked the dread of infection and disease.—
Noun
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The last time fans saw it, Shropshire stepped out of it wearing an elf costume and holding a game ball for Santa Claus (aka coach Andy Reid).—
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Directed by Jon Favreau, the 2003 movie stars Will Ferrell as Buddy, a human who was accidentally raised by Santa's elves at the North Pole.—
Noun
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That often means providing upgrades of low level monsters rather than just throwing more goblins at a problem.—
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My dad’s Welsh and among my happiest memories of him are going through Brian Froud’s books about fairies, goblins and trolls.—
Noun
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The queue for the Shrek ride winds through the ogre's cottage and then the swamp.—
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The Austin Powers star reflected on voicing everyone's favorite ogre in an interview with the Good One podcast — and detailed how the filmmakers at DreamWorks Animation didn't want to fess up about his late Saturday Night Live costar, Chris Farley, being the first choice for the character.—
Noun
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Emperor tamarins are dwarf monkeys with whiskers that resemble a white moustache.—
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The dwarf variety grows to be about 5 to 7 feet, ideal for a small garden or accent in a room with limited space.—
Noun
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To attribute the corrosion of institutional trust to such bugbears as relativism or postmodernism is to ignore explanations that are both more concrete and more parsimonious.—
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Kevin Lamarque | Reuters As U.S. President Donald Trump looks to immediately fix his greatest political and economic bugbears, the thorny issue of NATO defense spending is likely to quickly return to the global fore.—
Noun
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The revelation is the latest tragic twist for the Bibas family, who have become among the most recognizable victims of the October 7 terror attacks, with confirmation of their deaths triggering an outpouring of grief in Israel.—
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That means stopping the campaigns of violence and terror by these vicious groups both in the United States and internationally.—
Noun
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The Unseelie Court is the bastion of malevolent faeries who harm humans for their amusement or to exact revenge.—
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That’s in addition to the strange creatures that roam the countryside such as faeries and dragon.—
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Cite this Entry
“Hobgoblin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hobgoblin. Accessed 27 Feb. 2025.
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