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
Puck or robin Good-fellow Keightley thinks it a corruption of Rob-Goblin - i e the goblin Robin, just as Hodge is the nickname of Roger, which seems to agree with the subjoined quotation: "Those that Hobgoblin call you, and sweet Puck, You do their work, and they shall have good luck " Shakespeare: Midsummer Night's Dream, ii 1 Hob is certainly sometimes used for a sprite or fairy, as a hob-lantern - i e an ignis fatuus or fairy-lantern, but this may mean a "Puck-lantern" or "Robin Goodfellow-lantern "
friendly spirits who live in human houses and do domestic chores such as helping bread to rise and caring for unattended babies
(folklore) a small grotesque supernatural creature that makes trouble for human beings
A frightful goblin; an imp; a bugaboo; also, a name formerly given to the household spirit, Robin Goodfellow
A humanoid race slightly taller and somewhat more physically powerful than a human being Their origins are believed to be Dark Elf tampering with goblins, somehow combining ogre and human with a breed of goblin to produce hobgoblins Hobgoblins certainly have traits of all three races [See also: Hakarsha, Feral Races]