hobby

CEFRA1

/ˈhɒ.bi/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    An activity done regularly for pleasure in free time.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    An extinct breed of horse native to the British Isles, also known as the Irish Hobby.

Examples

  • My hobby is taking pictures of wild flowers.

  • My hobby is to listen to music.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings
  1. Synonym of hobby horse (“a favorite topic”).

  2. An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time.

  3. Any of four species of small falcons in the genus Falco, especially Falco subbuteo.

More examples

In context
  • You ought not to have spent so much money on your hobby.

  • I like to collect stamps from different countries as a hobby.

  • give up your hobby

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

In his free time, he enjoys painting as a relaxing blank.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Shortened from hobby-horse, from Middle English hoby, hobyn, hobin (“small horse, pony”), from Old French hobi, *haubi, haubby, hobin ("a nag, hobby"; > Modern French aubin, Italian ubino), of Germanic origin: from Old French hober, ober (“to stir, move”), from Old Dutch hobben (“to toss, move up and down”); or from North Germanic origin related to Danish hoppe (“a mare”), Old Swedish hoppa (“a young mare”), North Frisian hoppe (“horse”); both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *huppōną (“to hop”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewb- (“to bend; a bend, joint”). More at hop, hobble. The meaning of hobby-horse shifted from "small horse, pony" to "child's toy riding horse" to "favorite pastime or avoc...