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

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

From Washington Post • Mar. 5, 2021

Dismissing the hobgoblin of consistency, I drove to the Odyssey on Saturday afternoon with a feeling of genuine excitement.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2020

Like in The World at the End of the Tunnel when Jack is taken to the hobgoblin king’s castle and thrown in the highest tower.

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish