Meanings
nounBobadil (plural Bobadils)
plural Bobadils · alternative Bobadill
- A swaggering boaster.
But in a minute they came out again, apparently satisfied, and crowded down stairs; whereon the man behind the curtain laughed again, and swaggering out, Bobadil-like, shook his fist with furious gestures after them.
1897, Stanley John Weyman, chapter XII, in Shrewsbury
Origin
Name of such a character in Ben Jonson's 1598 play Every Man in his Humour.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
Bobadil. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bobadil
MLA
“Bobadil.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bobadil. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Bobadil,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bobadil.
Source: Bobadil on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.