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.

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

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,” Emerson wrote, and in this respect at least, Thiel’s intellect lives up to its billing.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 17, 2021

Ralph Waldo Emerson is often misquoted as having said “consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”

From Washington Post • Mar. 5, 2021

Except it’s not the Goldengrove anymore, because the hobgoblin king and queen have captured the fairy princess whose laughter makes the sun rise.

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish