noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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/ˈhɒbɪt/
[-ɪʔ]
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɒbɪt
CMU ARPABET:HH AA1 B IH0 T
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A member of a fictional race of small humanoids with shaggy hair and hairy feet.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: fantasy
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: halfling
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A member of a fictional race of small humanoids with shaggy hair and hairy feet.
A person of short stature.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: humorous
Topics: fantasy
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: halfling
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
An extinct species of hominin, Homo floresiensis, with a short body and relatively small brain, fossils of which have been recovered from the Indonesian island of Flores.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A socially unappealing, overly academic student.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, slang, uncommon
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
A Welsh unit of weight, equal to four Welsh pecks, or 168 pounds.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
An old unit of volume (2+1⁄2 bushels, the volume of 168 pounds of wheat).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
an imaginary being similar to a person but smaller and with hairy feet; invented by J.R.R. Tolkien
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Coined in its current sense by J. R. R. Tolkien in the 1930s, featured in the novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Jocularly etymologized by him as from a hypothetical Old English *holbytla (literally “hole-builder”), from hol (“hole”) + bytlan (“to build”) + -a (“-er”). Tolkien was possibly influenced by similar terms for house-sprites (probably from Hob, a hypocoristic form of Robert), or an isolated mention of hobbits (with hobgoblins following immediately afterwards) in a list of sprites and bogies from the 19th-century Denham Tracts.
Probably from hoppet, hobbet (“basket”).
Across languages
Translations
53 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
هُوبِيت
(hūbit)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Bengali:
হবিট
(hobiṭ)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Breton:
hobbit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Bulgarian:
хо́бит
(hóbit)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Catalan:
hòbbit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Chinese Mandarin:
霍比特人
(huòbǐtè-rén)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Chinese Mandarin:
哈比人
(hābǐ-rén)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Czech:
hobit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Czech:
půlčík
— fictional small humanoid creature
Danish:
hobbit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Dutch:
hobbit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Esperanto:
hobito
— fictional small humanoid creature
Faroese:
hobbi
— fictional small humanoid creature
Finnish:
hobitti
— fictional small humanoid creature
French:
hobbit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Georgian:
ჰობიტი
(hobiṭi)
— fictional small humanoid creature
German:
Hobbit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Greek:
χόμπιτ
(chómpit)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Greek:
Χόμπιτ
(Chómpit)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Ancient Greek:
ὅββιτος
(hóbbitos)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Hebrew:
הוֹבִּיט
(hóbit)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Hungarian:
hobbit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Icelandic:
hobbiti
— fictional small humanoid creature
Irish:
hobad
— fictional small humanoid creature
Italian:
hobbit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Japanese:
ホビット
(hobitto)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Korean:
호빗
(hobit)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Latin:
hobbitus
— fictional small humanoid creature
Marathi:
हॉबिट
(hŏbiṭ)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Norwegian Bokmål:
hobbit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Norwegian Nynorsk:
hobbit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Polish:
hobbit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Polish:
hobbitka
— fictional small humanoid creature
Portuguese:
hobbit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Russian:
хо́ббит
(xóbbit)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Scots:
hobbit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Scottish Gaelic:
hobat
— fictional small humanoid creature
Serbo-Croatian:
hobit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Slovak:
hobbit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Upper Sorbian:
hobit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Spanish:
hobbit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Swedish:
hobbit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Swedish:
hob
— fictional small humanoid creature
Swedish:
homp
— fictional small humanoid creature
Tajik:
хоббит
(xobbit)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Tajik:
ҳоббит
(hobbit)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Thai:
ฮอบบิท
(hɔ́p-bìt)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Turkish:
hobit
— fictional small humanoid creature
Ukrainian:
гобіт
(hobit)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Welsh:
hobyd
— fictional small humanoid creature
Yiddish:
האָביט
(hobit)
— fictional small humanoid creature
Bulgarian:
хо́бит
(hóbit)
— An extinct species of hominin
French:
homme de Florès
— An extinct species of hominin
