as in hobby
an activity outside of one's regular occupation that is engaged in primarily for pleasure
oil painting became the hobbyhorse of her long years of retirement
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Recent Examples of hobbyhorse
It is also blighted by Tanenhaus’s hobbyhorses, which are especially evident in his caviling when promoting his book.
—
The Editors, National Review, 2 June 2025
Both parties instead must make the case that federal funding for research is not a partisan hobbyhorse but a source of long-term economic and political strength.
—David G. Victor, Foreign Affairs, 28 May 2025
The treatment of white farmers in South Africa has been a hobbyhorse of South African X owner Elon Musk for quite a while.
—ArsTechnica, 14 May 2025
In 2017, the National Institutes of Health asked Hotez to meet with Kennedy to move him off the hobbyhorse of a vaccine-autism link.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2025
Throw these men off their hobbyhorses, off the tracks of their discourse.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 28 Jan. 2025
Mergers and acquisitions of media companies is an area squarely in the FCC’s purview, which cannot be said of Section 230 and more tech-adjacent regulation that have also been Carr hobbyhorses.
—Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 3 Apr. 2025
Throw these men off their hobbyhorses, off the tracks of their discourse.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 28 Jan. 2025
Never mind the crime issue or that favorite Trumpian hobbyhorse, immigration and the border.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2024
The Editors, National Review, 2 June 2025
Both parties instead must make the case that federal funding for research is not a partisan hobbyhorse but a source of long-term economic and political strength.
—David G. Victor, Foreign Affairs, 28 May 2025
The treatment of white farmers in South Africa has been a hobbyhorse of South African X owner Elon Musk for quite a while.
—ArsTechnica, 14 May 2025
In 2017, the National Institutes of Health asked Hotez to meet with Kennedy to move him off the hobbyhorse of a vaccine-autism link.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2025
Throw these men off their hobbyhorses, off the tracks of their discourse.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 28 Jan. 2025
Mergers and acquisitions of media companies is an area squarely in the FCC’s purview, which cannot be said of Section 230 and more tech-adjacent regulation that have also been Carr hobbyhorses.
—Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 3 Apr. 2025
Throw these men off their hobbyhorses, off the tracks of their discourse.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 28 Jan. 2025
Never mind the crime issue or that favorite Trumpian hobbyhorse, immigration and the border.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hobbyhorse
Noun
-
Finding them is kind of like hunting for fossils, another hobby of Arthur's.—
Camila Domonoske,
NPR,
7 July 2025
-
When one person has a wedding, a funeral to attend or a win in their hobby, everyone can feel the loss or gain of that situation and feel more connected to each other.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
7 July 2025
Noun
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The human pursuit of flight would be hard to stop from ever happening again.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
2 July 2025
-
The collision left her hospitalized for an extended period with multiple injuries, forcing her to take a year off from business school and pause her academic pursuits.—
Ugonnaora Owoh,
Essence,
30 June 2025
Noun
-
As one of the most iconic franchises in all of sports, the Dallas Cowboys have deep roots in the Texas community.—
Kevin McCormick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 July 2025
-
The settlement also does away with the NCAA’s long-standing scholarship limits, replacing them with roster limits for each sport — though schools may exceed those limits to keep current players on the roster until their eligibility runs out.—
Emily Adams,
Hartford Courant,
6 July 2025
Noun
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Retired from her long vocation as a research chemist, Schafer, at 81, remains on the job with her avocations.—
Patricia Gallagher Newberry,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
13 May 2025
-
These avocations can take many shapes—traveling, golf, time with family, snowboarding, knitting, hunting, gardening, fishing, church choir, college football, crossword puzzles, theater, cycling, and walking.—
Wes Moss,
Forbes,
17 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
At one point, the support bars bowed inward and the whole chair collapsed toward the ground—much to my friend’s amusement.—
Melanie Fincher,
Southern Living,
12 July 2025
-
But this new version of Krypto is both very powerful and very rambunctious, and Superman has trouble training him, much to the amusement of Superman’s peers like Batman.—
Daniel Dockery,
Vulture,
11 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hobbyhorse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hobbyhorse. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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