different between fairy vs hobgoblin

English

Alternative forms

• faery
• faerie
• færie (archaic, nonstandard)
• fairie

Etymology

From Middle English fairye, fairie, from Old French faerie, from fae + -erie, from Vulgar Latin *F?ta (“goddess of fate”), from Latin f?tum (“fate”). Equivalent to Fate +? -ery.

English from ca. 1300, first in the sense of "enchantment, illusion, dream" and later "realm of the fays, fairy-land" or "the inhabitants of fairyland as a collective".The re-interpretation of the term as a countable noun denoting individual inhabitants of fairy-land can be traced to the 1390s, but becomes common only in the 16th century.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?f????i/
• (General American) enPR: fâr??
  • (Mary–marry–merry distinction) IPA^(key): /?f????i/
  • (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /?f??i/
• Rhymes: -???i
• Homophone: ferry (in accents with the Mary-marry-merry merger)

Noun

fairy (countable and uncountable, plural fairies)

1. (uncountable, obsolete) The realm of faerie; enchantment, illusion.
2. A mythical being with magical powers, known in many sizes and descriptions, although often depicted in modern illustrations only as a small sprite with gauze-like wings, and revered in some modern forms of paganism.
3. An enchantress, or creature of overpowering charm.
4. (Northern England, US, derogatory, colloquial) A male homosexual, especially one who is effeminate.
   • 1933, Nathanael West, 'Miss Lonelyhearts' [Miss Lonelyhearts is male.]

     The cripple returned the smile and stuck out his hand. Miss Lonelyhearts clasped it, and they stood this way, smiling and holding hands, until Mrs. Doyle reëntered the room.
     "What a sweet pair of fairies you guys are," she said.
     The cripple pulled his hand away and made as though to strike his wife.

5. A member of two species of hummingbird in the genus Heliothryx.

Synonyms

• (supernatural creature): fay, fey, fae, sprite; see also goblin (hostile)
• (male homosexual): fag (US), faggot (US), poof (UK), queen

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

fairy

1. Like a fairy; fanciful, whimsical, delicate.

English

Etymology

From hob (“elf”) (from Hob, a variant of Rob, short for Robin Goodfellow, an elf in German folklore) + goblin.

Noun

hobgoblin (plural hobgoblins)

1. A small, ugly goblin that makes trouble for humans. [from 1520s]
   • 1837, Albany Fonblanque, England Under Seven Administrations, Volume 1, page 98,

     A M. Berbiguier lately published an elaborate work, in three huge volumes, in which he demonstrated the existence of hobgoblins, described the proper manner of capturing and securing them, and took credit to himself for his zeal for the benefit of mankind, in allowing no day to pass without imprisoning, with his own hands, at least thirty hobgoblins. A writer of biographical notices of contemporary authors, who believed neither in M. Berbiguier's manner of catching hobgoblins nor in the existence of hobgoblins did not scruple to say that M. Berbiguier was mad, and upon this M. Berbiguier brought his action for libel; but unluckily, together with his action, he brought himself into Court, and established in a very few words the truth of the libel.

   • 2005, Scott Harper, Winter's Rite, page 142,

     The eyes blinked out and he heard a faint grunt, followed by the sounds of the Hobgoblin scrambling further back into the tunnel, away from the faint sunlight and the Ur'hunglav's domain.

   • 2007, Introduction: Phonoplay: Recasting Film Music, Daniel Goldmark, Lawrence Kramer, Richard D. Leppert (editors), Beyond the Soundtrack: Representing Music in Cinema, page 1,

     The monster goes unrecognized because he looks like a harmless, pudgy nobody rather than like a hobgoblin. But he reveals his hobgoblin nature through music.

2. (by extension) A source of dread, fear or apprehension; a bugbear.
   • 2004, James Mulvihill, Upstart Talents: Rhetoric and the Career of Reason in English Romantic Disccourse 1790-1820, page 55,

     Under "Fallacies of Danger," then, is listed the subhead of "The Hobgoblin Argument, or, No Innovation, in which the hobgoblin in question is anarchy; which tremendous spectre has for its forerunner the monster innovation." A hot button like this would presumably elicit a visceral response even from Hamilton whose aversion to the hobgoblin of parliamentary reform was apparently his sole unreasoning reflex.

   • 2011, John Mueller, Mark G. Stewart, Terror, Security, and Money: Balancing the Risks, Benefits, and Costs of Homeland Security, page 190,

     However, the public seems to have been able to retain much of its sense of alarm about internal attacks even when the al-Qaeda hobgoblin doesn't actually carry any out.

Synonyms

• (hostile supernatural creature): See goblin

Translations

Portuguese

Noun

hobgoblin m (plural hobgoblins)

1. hobgoblin (mischievous goblin)