hobbit
Americannoun
-
a member of a race of imaginary creatures related to and resembling humans, living in underground holes and characterized by their good nature, diminutive size, and hairy feet.
-
a nickname for Homo floresiensis.
noun
-
one of an imaginary race of half-size people living in holes
-
a nickname used for a very small type of primitive human, Homo floresiensis , following the discovery of remains of eight such people on the Island of Flores, Indonesia, in 2004
Other Word Forms
- hobbitry noun
Etymology
Origin of hobbit
1937; coined by J. R. R. Tolkien in his fantasy novel “The Hobbit”
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.
Nicknamed the hobbit because of its small stature, the species challenged long-standing ideas about human evolution.
From Science Daily • Feb. 19, 2026
A well-traveled hobbit named Trotter is revised into Aragorn, king of Gondor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025
Astin, known for portraying Frodo’s loyal hobbit friend, Samwise Gamgee, in the Peter Jackson-directed fantasy trilogy, now finds himself headed to a different kind of stage.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 12, 2025
From the well-known Neanderthals and more enigmatic Denisovans in Eurasia, to the diminutive "hobbit" Homo floresiensis on the island of Flores in Indonesia, to Homo naledi that lived in South Africa, multiple hominins abounded.
From Salon • Oct. 21, 2022
Sam sighed audibly; and not at the courtesies, of which, as any hobbit would, he thoroughly approved.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
