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
“It’s not really the Dimwood. There’s no evil hobgoblin king here.”
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
Vocabulary lists containing hobgoblin
