gremlin means A contemptible person.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, gremlin ranks #3,032 of 17,117 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
gremlin is pronounced /ˈɡɹɛmlɪn/.
Why “gremlin” is a great word
An imaginary, mischievous creature blamed for causing unexplained mechanical failures, especially in aircraft. Etymology uncertain; possibly a variant of 'goblin' or from Irish 'gruaimín' ('gloomy little person'), though evidence is lacking. The word was popularized in the United States by Roald Dahl's 1943 children's novel 'The Gremlins', though it appears in Royal Air Force slang from the late 1920s. Unlike a 'goblin' (a broadly malevolent folkloric imp) or a 'saboteur' (a human agent of deliberate wreckage), a gremlin is the specific poltergeist of the technological age, a sprite of pure, arbitrary dysfunction. It is the faint metallic *ping* from a perfectly healthy engine, the ghostly fingerprint on a freshly wiped lens, and the single corrupted line of code in a million flawless ones—the necessary phantom born from our own terror at systems too intricate to fully trust.
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.
noun
- A contemptible person.
- An imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined, for example, to damage or dismantle machinery.
- Any mysterious, unknown source of mischief or trouble, or the problem created thereby.e.g.“We rechecked everything, and we suspect gremlins in the database.”
- A young, inexperienced surfer or skateboarder, regarded as a nuisance.
- A person regarded as similar to a fictional gremlin, in particular: mischievous, troublesome, short, or annoying.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- gremlinesque 68% match — Like, or in the manner of, a gremlin. vs gremlin →
- goblin 68% match — Traditionally, a supernatural being of folklore, typically small and grotesque or misshapen, that commonly haunts dark places, often mischievous or malevolent; a type of evil elf, sprite, or demon. vs gremlin →
- fifinella 56% match — A female gremlin. vs gremlin →
- bogle 55% match — A goblin, imp, bogeyman, bugbear or similar a frightful being or phantom. vs gremlin →
- gobbo 54% match — A goblin. vs gremlin →
- boggard 54% match — A bogey: a ghost, goblin, or other hostile supernatural creature, especially a small local spirit haunting gloomy places or the scenes of violence. vs gremlin →
- gryllos 53% match — A caricatural creature found in ancient and medieval art, typically featuring a human head with mostly bizarre, animal anatomy. vs gremlin →
- hoblin 53% match — A goblin or hobgoblin-like creature. vs gremlin →