Adjacent Words

Hobgoblin definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HOB'GOBLIN, n. A fairy; a frightful apparition.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (folklore) a small grotesque supernatural creature that makes trouble for human beings [syn: goblin, hob, hobgoblin]
2: an object of dread or apprehension; "Germany was always a bugbear for France"; "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"--Ralph Waldo Emerson [syn: bugbear, hobgoblin]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: ¹hob Date: 1530 1. a mischievous goblin 2. bogey 2, bugaboo

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a mischievous imp; a bogy; a bugbear. Etymology: HOB(2) + GOBLIN

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hobgoblin Hob"gob`lin, n. [See 2d Hob, and Goblin.] A frightful goblin; an imp; a bugaboo; also, a name formerly given to the household spirit, Robin Goodfellow. --Macaulay.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Goblin, spectre, sprite, frightful apparition, evil spirit.

Moby Thesaurus

Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolf-man, bogey, bogeyman, bugaboo, bugbear, fee-faw-fum, frightener, ghost, ghoul, goblin, hob, holy terror, horror, incubus, monster, nightmare, ogre, ogress, ouphe, phantom, revenant, scarebabe, scarecrow, scarer, specter, succubus, terror, vampire, werewolf