"hobgoblin" meaning in All languages combined

See hobgoblin on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Forms: hobgoblins [plural]
Etymology: From hob (“elf”, from Hob, a variant of Rob, short for Robin Goodfellow, an elf in German folklore) + goblin. Etymology templates: {{m|en|Hob}} Hob, {{m|en|Rob}} Rob, {{af|en|hob|goblin|pos1=from <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">Hob</i>, a variant of <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">Rob</i>, short for Robin Goodfellow, an elf in German folklore|t1=elf}} hob (“elf”, from Hob, a variant of Rob, short for Robin Goodfellow, an elf in German folklore) + goblin Head templates: {{en-noun}} hobgoblin (plural hobgoblins)
  1. A small, ugly goblin that makes trouble for humans. Translations (mischievous goblin): зъл дух (zǎl duh) [masculine] (Bulgarian), таласъ́м (talasǎ́m) [masculine] (Bulgarian), koboldo (Esperanto), menninkäinen (Finnish), peikko (Finnish), lutin [masculine] (French), hobgoblin [masculine] (French), butze [masculine] (Middle High German), hobgoblin (Portuguese), spiriduș [masculine] (Romanian), donni di notti [feminine, masculine, plural] (Sicilian)
    Sense id: en-hobgoblin-en-noun-8r4Sz45Z Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 80 20 Disambiguation of 'mischievous goblin': 83 17
  2. (by extension) A source of dread, fear or apprehension; a bugbear. Tags: broadly Categories (topical): Mythological creatures Translations (source of dread, fear or apprehension): плашило (plašilo) [neuter] (Bulgarian), peikko (Finnish)
    Sense id: en-hobgoblin-en-noun-8F8W11zY Disambiguation of Mythological creatures: 39 61 Disambiguation of 'source of dread, fear or apprehension': 3 97
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms (hostile supernatural creature): goblin Derived forms: a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds
Disambiguation of 'hostile supernatural creature': 49 51

Noun [Portuguese]

Forms: hobgoblins [plural]
Head templates: {{pt-noun|m|#s}} hobgoblin m (plural hobgoblins)
  1. hobgoblin (mischievous goblin) Tags: masculine
    Sense id: en-hobgoblin-pt-noun-TRgbVILu Categories (other): Portuguese entries with incorrect language header, Portuguese terms ending in N

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for hobgoblin meaning in All languages combined (7.3kB)

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Hob"
      },
      "expansion": "Hob",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Rob"
      },
      "expansion": "Rob",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hob",
        "3": "goblin",
        "pos1": "from <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"en\">Hob</i>, a variant of <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"en\">Rob</i>, short for Robin Goodfellow, an elf in German folklore",
        "t1": "elf"
      },
      "expansion": "hob (“elf”, from Hob, a variant of Rob, short for Robin Goodfellow, an elf in German folklore) + goblin",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From hob (“elf”, from Hob, a variant of Rob, short for Robin Goodfellow, an elf in German folklore) + goblin.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hobgoblins",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "hobgoblin (plural hobgoblins)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "80 20",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1837, Albany Fonblanque, England Under Seven Administrations, volume 1, page 98",
          "text": "A M. Berbiguier lately published an elaborate work, in three huge volumes, in which he demonstrated the existence of hobgoblins, described the proper manner of capturing and securing them, and took credit to himself for his zeal for the benefit of mankind, in allowing no day to pass without imprisoning, with his own hands, at least thirty hobgoblins. A writer of biographical notices of contemporary authors, who believed neither in M. Berbiguier's manner of catching hobgoblins nor in the existence of hobgoblins did not scruple to say that M. Berbiguier was mad, and upon this M. Berbiguier brought his action for libel; but unluckily, together with his action, he brought himself into Court, and established in a very few words the truth of the libel.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Scott Harper, Winter's Rite, page 142",
          "text": "The eyes blinked out and he heard a faint grunt, followed by the sounds of the Hobgoblin scrambling further back into the tunnel, away from the faint sunlight and the Ur'hunglav's domain.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, “Introduction: Phonoplay: Recasting Film Music”, in Daniel Goldmark, Lawrence Kramer, Richard D. Leppert, editors, Beyond the Soundtrack: Representing Music in Cinema, page 1",
          "text": "The monster goes unrecognized because he looks like a harmless, pudgy nobody rather than like a hobgoblin. But he reveals his hobgoblin nature through music.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A small, ugly goblin that makes trouble for humans."
      ],
      "id": "en-hobgoblin-en-noun-8r4Sz45Z",
      "links": [
        [
          "small",
          "small"
        ],
        [
          "ugly",
          "ugly"
        ],
        [
          "goblin",
          "goblin"
        ],
        [
          "trouble",
          "trouble"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "zǎl duh",
          "sense": "mischievous goblin",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "зъл дух"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "talasǎ́m",
          "sense": "mischievous goblin",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "таласъ́м"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "mischievous goblin",
          "word": "koboldo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "mischievous goblin",
          "word": "menninkäinen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "mischievous goblin",
          "word": "peikko"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "mischievous goblin",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "lutin"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "mischievous goblin",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "hobgoblin"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "gmh",
          "lang": "Middle High German",
          "sense": "mischievous goblin",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "butze"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "mischievous goblin",
          "word": "hobgoblin"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "mischievous goblin",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "spiriduș"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "83 17",
          "code": "scn",
          "lang": "Sicilian",
          "sense": "mischievous goblin",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "masculine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "donni di notti"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "39 61",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Mythological creatures",
          "orig": "en:Mythological creatures",
          "parents": [
            "Fantasy",
            "Mythology",
            "Fiction",
            "Speculative fiction",
            "Culture",
            "Artistic works",
            "Genres",
            "Society",
            "Art",
            "Entertainment",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”, in Essays: First Series",
          "text": "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004, James Mulvihill, Upstart Talents: Rhetoric and the Career of Reason in English Romantic Disccourse 1790-1820, page 55",
          "text": "Under \"Fallacies of Danger,\" then, is listed the subhead of \"The Hobgoblin Argument, or, No Innovation, in which the hobgoblin in question is anarchy; which tremendous spectre has for its forerunner the monster innovation.\" A hot button like this would presumably elicit a visceral response even from Hamilton whose aversion to the hobgoblin of parliamentary reform was apparently his sole unreasoning reflex.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, John Mueller, Mark G. Stewart, Terror, Security, and Money: Balancing the Risks, Benefits, and Costs of Homeland Security, page 190",
          "text": "However, the public seems to have been able to retain much of its sense of alarm about internal attacks even when the al-Qaeda hobgoblin doesn't actually carry any out.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A source of dread, fear or apprehension; a bugbear."
      ],
      "id": "en-hobgoblin-en-noun-8F8W11zY",
      "links": [
        [
          "dread",
          "dread"
        ],
        [
          "fear",
          "fear"
        ],
        [
          "apprehension",
          "apprehension"
        ],
        [
          "bugbear",
          "bugbear"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension) A source of dread, fear or apprehension; a bugbear."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "3 97",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "plašilo",
          "sense": "source of dread, fear or apprehension",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "плашило"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "3 97",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "source of dread, fear or apprehension",
          "word": "peikko"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "49 51",
      "sense": "hostile supernatural creature",
      "word": "goblin"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Puck (mythology)",
    "hobgoblin"
  ],
  "word": "hobgoblin"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hobgoblins",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "m",
        "2": "#s"
      },
      "expansion": "hobgoblin m (plural hobgoblins)",
      "name": "pt-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Portuguese",
  "lang_code": "pt",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Portuguese entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Portuguese terms ending in N",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "hobgoblin (mischievous goblin)"
      ],
      "id": "en-hobgoblin-pt-noun-TRgbVILu",
      "links": [
        [
          "hobgoblin",
          "hobgoblin#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
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    }
  ],
  "word": "hobgoblin"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "en:Mythological creatures"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Hob"
      },
      "expansion": "Hob",
      "name": "m"
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Rob"
      },
      "expansion": "Rob",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hob",
        "3": "goblin",
        "pos1": "from <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"en\">Hob</i>, a variant of <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"en\">Rob</i>, short for Robin Goodfellow, an elf in German folklore",
        "t1": "elf"
      },
      "expansion": "hob (“elf”, from Hob, a variant of Rob, short for Robin Goodfellow, an elf in German folklore) + goblin",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From hob (“elf”, from Hob, a variant of Rob, short for Robin Goodfellow, an elf in German folklore) + goblin.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hobgoblins",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "hobgoblin (plural hobgoblins)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1837, Albany Fonblanque, England Under Seven Administrations, volume 1, page 98",
          "text": "A M. Berbiguier lately published an elaborate work, in three huge volumes, in which he demonstrated the existence of hobgoblins, described the proper manner of capturing and securing them, and took credit to himself for his zeal for the benefit of mankind, in allowing no day to pass without imprisoning, with his own hands, at least thirty hobgoblins. A writer of biographical notices of contemporary authors, who believed neither in M. Berbiguier's manner of catching hobgoblins nor in the existence of hobgoblins did not scruple to say that M. Berbiguier was mad, and upon this M. Berbiguier brought his action for libel; but unluckily, together with his action, he brought himself into Court, and established in a very few words the truth of the libel.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Scott Harper, Winter's Rite, page 142",
          "text": "The eyes blinked out and he heard a faint grunt, followed by the sounds of the Hobgoblin scrambling further back into the tunnel, away from the faint sunlight and the Ur'hunglav's domain.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, “Introduction: Phonoplay: Recasting Film Music”, in Daniel Goldmark, Lawrence Kramer, Richard D. Leppert, editors, Beyond the Soundtrack: Representing Music in Cinema, page 1",
          "text": "The monster goes unrecognized because he looks like a harmless, pudgy nobody rather than like a hobgoblin. But he reveals his hobgoblin nature through music.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A small, ugly goblin that makes trouble for humans."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "small",
          "small"
        ],
        [
          "ugly",
          "ugly"
        ],
        [
          "goblin",
          "goblin"
        ],
        [
          "trouble",
          "trouble"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”, in Essays: First Series",
          "text": "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004, James Mulvihill, Upstart Talents: Rhetoric and the Career of Reason in English Romantic Disccourse 1790-1820, page 55",
          "text": "Under \"Fallacies of Danger,\" then, is listed the subhead of \"The Hobgoblin Argument, or, No Innovation, in which the hobgoblin in question is anarchy; which tremendous spectre has for its forerunner the monster innovation.\" A hot button like this would presumably elicit a visceral response even from Hamilton whose aversion to the hobgoblin of parliamentary reform was apparently his sole unreasoning reflex.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, John Mueller, Mark G. Stewart, Terror, Security, and Money: Balancing the Risks, Benefits, and Costs of Homeland Security, page 190",
          "text": "However, the public seems to have been able to retain much of its sense of alarm about internal attacks even when the al-Qaeda hobgoblin doesn't actually carry any out.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A source of dread, fear or apprehension; a bugbear."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "dread",
          "dread"
        ],
        [
          "fear",
          "fear"
        ],
        [
          "apprehension",
          "apprehension"
        ],
        [
          "bugbear",
          "bugbear"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension) A source of dread, fear or apprehension; a bugbear."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "hostile supernatural creature",
      "word": "goblin"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "zǎl duh",
      "sense": "mischievous goblin",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "зъл дух"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "talasǎ́m",
      "sense": "mischievous goblin",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "таласъ́м"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "mischievous goblin",
      "word": "koboldo"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "mischievous goblin",
      "word": "menninkäinen"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "mischievous goblin",
      "word": "peikko"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "mischievous goblin",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "lutin"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "mischievous goblin",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "hobgoblin"
    },
    {
      "code": "gmh",
      "lang": "Middle High German",
      "sense": "mischievous goblin",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "butze"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "mischievous goblin",
      "word": "hobgoblin"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "mischievous goblin",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "spiriduș"
    },
    {
      "code": "scn",
      "lang": "Sicilian",
      "sense": "mischievous goblin",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "masculine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "donni di notti"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "plašilo",
      "sense": "source of dread, fear or apprehension",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "плашило"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "source of dread, fear or apprehension",
      "word": "peikko"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Puck (mythology)",
    "hobgoblin"
  ],
  "word": "hobgoblin"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hobgoblins",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "m",
        "2": "#s"
      },
      "expansion": "hobgoblin m (plural hobgoblins)",
      "name": "pt-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Portuguese",
  "lang_code": "pt",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Portuguese countable nouns",
        "Portuguese entries with incorrect language header",
        "Portuguese lemmas",
        "Portuguese masculine nouns",
        "Portuguese nouns",
        "Portuguese terms ending in N"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "hobgoblin (mischievous goblin)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "hobgoblin",
          "hobgoblin#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "hobgoblin"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.