hobby
/ˈhɒ.bi/US/ˈhɑ.bi/
hobby noun: an activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time.
Noun (1)
hobby (plural hobbies)
- An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time.
- I like to collect stamps from different countries as a hobby.
- take up a hobby
- Synonyms:
- avocation
- An extinct breed of horse native to the British Isles, also known as the Irish Hobby.
- I was out a-hunting to-day, and I got away to a place in the wood I’d never seen before. And there was an old chalk-pit. And I heard a kind of a sort of humming. So I got off my hobby, and I went right quiet to the pit, and I looked down.1890, Joseph Jacobs, “Tom Tit Tot”, in English Fairy Tales, page 7
- Synonym of hobby horse (“a favorite topic”).
- "Well, I think East is right," said Arthur; "I can't see but what it's right to do the best you can, though it mayn't be the best absolutely. Every man isn't born to be a martyr."
"Of course, of course," said East; "but he's on one of his pet hobbies. — How often have I told you, Tom, that you must...1857, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days
- Synonyms:
- hobby horse
- "Well, I think East is right," said Arthur; "I can't see but what it's right to do the best you can, though it mayn't be the best absolutely. Every man isn't born to be a martyr."
- Painting and building miniatures (as opposed to playing the game)
- I'm more into the competitive part than the hobby part of this game.
Noun (2)
hobby (plural hobbies)
- Any of four species of small falcons in the genus Falco, especially Falco subbuteo.
- He hawked – from nearby Esher, Richard Fox sent a servant with a hobby, which Henry received enthusiastically – and hunted, sending a present of freshly slaughtered deer to Princess Mary.2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 323
Proper noun capitalized: Hobby
Hobby (plural Hobbies or (nonstandard) Hobbys)
- An English surname transferred from the given name.
hobby meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
hobby in Hindi
- activity done for enjoyment in spare time
- शौक़ śauq, रुचि ruci, सरगर्मी sargarmī
hobby in Tamil
- ஓய்வுழை, பொழுதுபோக்கு, மட்டக்குதிரை
hobby in Marathi
- hobby
- छंद chanda, आवड āvaḍ
hobby in Urdu
- activity done for enjoyment in spare time
- مَشْغَلَہ maśġala, شَوق śauq, تَفَنُّن tafannun, سَرْگَرْمی sargarmī
More languagesFewer languages
- hobby in Bengali
- শখ śokh
- hobby in Telugu
- హాబీ
- hobby in Malayalam
- വിനോദം vinōdaṁ
- hobby in Kannada
- ಅಡ್ಡಕೆಲಸ
- hobby in Punjabi
- ਪਸੰਦ pasand
- hobby in Gujarati
- શોખ śokh
- hobby in Sanskrit
- देवना devanā
- hobby in Nepali
- शोख
- hobby in Pashto
- شوق šawq
- hobby in Tagalog
- hilig
- hobby in Arabic
- هِوَايَة hiwāya, هَوَس hawas, تَفَنُّن tafannun, شَوْق šawq
- hobby in Malay
- hobi
- hobby in Indonesian
- kegemaran, hobi
- hobby in Thai
- งานอดิเรก ngaan-à-dì-rèek
- hobby in Vietnamese
- sở thích riêng, sở thích
- hobby in Myanmar
- ဝါသနာ wasa.na
Examples of hobby in a sentence
- The experience struck a string in him that turned into a lifetime hobby.
- Whatever random hobby you're into, there's an Internet community for it.
- It started as a hobby, but now my motorbike collection has become my passion.
Synonyms of hobby
Antonyms
Forms of hobby
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | hobbies |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Hobbies |
| plural (nonstandard) | Hobbys |
Origin of hobby
From Middle English hoby (“small horse, pony”), a variant or alteration of hobyn (“a small ambling horse”), of uncertain and disputed origin. According to one theory the term is derived from Hobin, a pet name of Robert or Robin, at the time frequently used as a proper name for a workhorse (compare dobbin). Alternatively, possibly from Anglo-Norman hobyn, Old French hobin, obin ("a nag, hobby"; > Modern French aubin, Italian ubino): either derived from Old French hober, ober (“to stir, move”), from Old Dutch *hobbon ("to toss, move up and down"; whence Middle Dutch hobbelen (“to bump along”)); or possibly from North Germanic origin related to Danish hoppe (“a mare”), Old Swedish hoppa (“a young mare”), North Frisian hoppe (“horse”); both routes ultimately deriving from Proto-Germanic *huppōną (“to bob, hop”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewb- (“to bend; a bend, joint”). More at hop, hobble. The modern sense of "pastime, activity of interest" is a clipping of hobby horse, which had shifted from "small horse, pony" to "child's toy riding horse" to "favorite pastime or avocation" with the connecting notion being "activity that doesn't go anywhere".
From Middle English hoby, hobeye, from Old French hobé, hobei, hobet, from Medieval Latin hopētus, diminutive of harpe.
Words formed from hobby
- African hobby
- Falco cuvierii
- Australian hobby
- Falco longipennis
- Eurasian hobby
- Falco subbuteo
- Oriental hobby
- Falco severus
- hobby bobby
- hobbycraft
- hobby desk
- hobby farm
- hobby fuse
- hobby horse
- hobby horsing
- hobbyism
- hobbyist
- hobby knife
- hobbyless
- hobbylike
- hobby table
- Irish hobby
- ride a hobby
Phrases with hobby
Words that rhyme with hobby
Questions about hobby
- What does hobby mean?
- Hobby means an activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time.
- What is hobby in Hindi?
- Hobby in Hindi is शौक़ (śauq), रुचि (ruci), सरगर्मी (sargarmī). See Hobby meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is hobby?
- Hobby can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce hobby?
- Hobby is pronounced /ˈhɒ.bi/ (UK).
- What is the plural of hobby?
- The plural of hobby is hobbies.
Words near hobby in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hobby (page history and authors); Hobby (page history and authors); hobby (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); आवड (Marathi) (page history and authors); hobby (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); വിനോദം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); hobby (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਪਸੰਦ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); hobby (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-hobby.wav.
Cite this entry: “hobby.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hobby. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.