goblin.
Traditionally, a supernatural being of folklore, typically small and grotesque or misshapen, that commonly haunts dark places, often mischievous or malevolent; a type of evil elf, sprite, or demon.
Meaning & usage
Traditionally, a supernatural being of folklore, typically small and grotesque or misshapen, that commonly haunts dark places, often mischievous or malevolent; a type of evil elf, sprite, or demon.
In later fantasy literature, an evil and grotesquely ugly humanoid, typically powerful and warlike, often associated with orcs and trolls.
A hoodoo.
Short for goblin shark
Where this word comes from
From Middle English gobelyn, from Old Northern French gobelin (compare Norman goubelin, Walloon gobelin), possibly a blend of Old Dutch *kobeholdo (“goblin”) (compare Dutch kabouter, German Kobold) and Late Latin cobalus (“mountain sprite”), from Ancient Greek κόβαλος (kóbalos, “rogue, knave; goblin”). Displaced native Old English pūca from Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“a goblin, spook”), whence English puck.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.