Dictionary

gremlin en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈɡɹɛmlɪn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈɡɹɛmlən/ (General-American)
• (General-American) audio

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.

Meanings

1. (obsolete, qualifier:Royal Air Force slang) A contemptible person.
2. (qualifier:Royal Air Force slang) An imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined, for example, to damage or dismantle machinery.
   • Crucial time was saved by the fact Nexus didn't require a Transport & Works Act. Nevertheless, other gremlins kept raising their heads. 2023 November 29, Richard Foster, “Tyne & Wear Metro goes with the flow”, in RAIL, number 997, page 34:
   • Like Abominable Snowmen, gremlins have never actually been seen; but nobody who works with electronic gear doubts the existence of these mischievous and elusive entities. There are too many malfunctions and failures that can have no other explanation. 1963, Arthur C Clarke, chapter 8, in Glidepath, New York: Simon and Schuster, pages 72-73:
3. (broadly) Any mysterious, unknown source of mischief or trouble, or the problem created thereby.
   • We rechecked everything, and we suspect gremlins in the database.
4. (broadly, slang) A young, inexperienced surfer or skateboarder, regarded as a nuisance.
5. (broadly) A person regarded as similar to a fictional gremlin, in particular: mischievous, troublesome, short, or annoying.
   • Rosa, the main character in Tears of Themis, is also very smart, justice-driven, and willing to help. Meanwhile, the Honkai: Star Rail Trailblazer […] can often be a sarcastic, pessimistic, lazy, self-serving, dumpster-diving gremlin. […] That’s absolutely gremlin behavior. 2023 May 3, Jenni Lada, “Honkai: Star Rail’s Trailblazer Avatar Is a Gremlin and It’s Great”, in Siliconera, archived from the original on 15 Jan 2024:

Forms

Deriveds

gremmie · gremlinologist · gremlinology · gremlinesque · gremlinous · gremmy

Relateds

ghost in the machine · ghost

Synonyms

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

Translations (16)

ja グレムリン (imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined to damage or dismantle machinery) · de Kobold (any mysterious, unknown source of mischief or trouble, or the problem created thereby) · el καλικάντζαρος (imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined to damage or dismantle machinery) · fi pikkupiru (imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined to damage or dismantle machinery) · fi keltanokka (young, inexperienced surfer, seen as being a nuisance) · lt gremlinas (imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined to damage or dismantle machinery) · de Fehlerteufel (any mysterious, unknown source of mischief or trouble, or the problem created thereby) · bg гном (imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined to damage or dismantle machinery) · ru гремлин (imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined to damage or dismantle machinery) · mr ग्रेमलिन (imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined to damage or dismantle machinery) · fi riiviö (imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined to damage or dismantle machinery) · bg гремлин (imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined to damage or dismantle machinery) · fi häikkä (any mysterious, unknown source of mischief or trouble, or the problem created thereby) · ko 그렘린 (imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined to damage or dismantle machinery) · cmn 葛雷姆林 (imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined to damage or dismantle machinery) · uk гре́млін (imaginary creature reputed to be mischievously inclined to damage or dismantle machinery)

wikipedia: The Gremlins · wikipedia: Oxford English Dictionary · wikipedia: Roald Dahl