English Explanatory Dictionary

gremlin

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A contemptible person.
  2. An imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined, for example, to damage or dismantle machinery.
  3. Any mysterious, unknown source of mischief or trouble, or the problem created thereby.
  4. A young, inexperienced surfer or skateboarder, regarded as a nuisance.
  5. A person regarded as similar to a fictional gremlin, in particular: mischievous, troublesome, short, or annoying.

Pronunciation

/ˈɡɹɛmlɪn/ /ˈɡɹɛmlən/ En-us-gremlin.ogg

Word forms

gremlin gremlins

Etymology

Uncertain; the following etymologies have been suggested: * A variant of goblin. * From Irish gruaimín (“gloomy little person”); or from Dutch gremmelen (“to soil, stain; to spoil”), or griemelen, grimmelen (“(obsolete) to abound, teem; to swarm”); but Oxford English Dictionary says there is little evidence for such derivations. The word was popularized, especially in the United States, by the children’s novel The Gremlins (1943) by British author Roald Dahl (1916–1990), in which gremlins sabotage Royal Air Force aircraft in revenge for the destruction of their forest home to make way for an aircraft factory; the creatures later join forces with the British to fight the Nazis.

Synonyms

absolute zero also-ran chopped liver cipher crumb Joe Nobody little guy minnow nebbish nobody no one nothing nothingburger nonentity picayune pip-squeak pleb peon prole puny quidam rinky-dink shrimp wankstain zero zilch bug glitch hitch grem gremmie gremmy grommet

Related words

ghost in the machine ghost

Derived words

gremmie gremmy gremlinesque gremlinology gremlinologist gremlinous
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