Associations to the word «Hobgoblin»

Wiktionary

HOBGOBLIN, noun. A small, ugly goblin that makes trouble for humans.
HOBGOBLIN, noun. (by extension) A source of dread, fear or apprehension; a bugbear.

Dictionary definition

HOBGOBLIN, noun. (folklore) a small grotesque supernatural creature that makes trouble for human beings.
HOBGOBLIN, noun. An object of dread or apprehension; "Germany was always a bugbear for France"; "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"--Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Wise words

Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.
Nathaniel Hawthorne