noun
gremlin
GREHM-lihn
noun
1
A mischievous imaginary creature blamed for mechanical faults or malfunctions, especially in machinery or aircraft.
"Pilots joked that a gremlin must be loose in the engine."
"There's a gremlin in this printer — it jams every single time."
2
An unexplained glitch, fault, or source of trouble in a system or piece of equipment.
"Engineers spent all night chasing a gremlin in the software."
3
A troublesome, mischievous, or annoying person.
"Her little brother is an absolute gremlin at family dinners."
How to Use Gremlin
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishAn invisible troublemaker you blame when something breaks for no obvious reason — or, informally, an annoying person.
Common mistake
Don't confuse with goblin, a similar but distinct folklore creature — gremlins are specifically associated with machinery and mischief, not treasure or trickery in general.
Easily confused with
goblin
Common pairings
a gremlin in the system
chase down a gremlin
Word Forms
gremlins plural
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Pilots joked that a _____ must be loose in the engine.
Etymology
Origin uncertain — possibly a twist on "goblin," though the word only became widely known after Roald Dahl's 1943 story The Gremlins, about mischievous creatures sabotaging RAF planes.