hobgoblin
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In response, Black quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson to me: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
He has taken Emerson’s nostrum about consistency being “the hobgoblin of little minds” to its acid-flashback extreme: no consistency, no mind to speak of, but one hell of a hobgoblin.
From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2025
I’m fine with that; a foolish adherence to canon is the hobgoblin of small minds.
From The Verge ● Aug. 23, 2022
Ralph Waldo Emerson is often misquoted as having said “consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”
From Washington Post ● Mar. 5, 2021
The hobgoblin king had fled into the night with his queen, leaving his wrought iron crown to clatter to the ground.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
Vocabulary lists containing hobgoblin
