Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A minor weakness or failing of character.
- n. The weaker section of a sword blade, from the middle to the tip.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Feeble; weak.
- n. That part of the blade of a sword which is included between the middle and the point. Formerly also feeble and faible.
- n. A special weakness of character; a failing; a weak point; a fault of a not very serious kind.
- n. Synonyms Infirmity, imperfection, defect, fault.
Wiktionary
- adj. weak.
- adj. alternative form of fro.
- n. A quirk, idiosyncrasy, or mannerism; unusual habit or way (usage is typically plural), that is slightly strange or silly.
- n. A weakness or failing of character.
- n. Part of a sword between the middle and the point, weaker than the forte.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Weak; feeble.
- n. A moral weakness; a failing; a weak point; a frailty.
- n. The half of a sword blade or foil blade nearest the point; -- opposed to
forte .
WordNet 3.0
- n. a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual
- n. the weaker part of a sword's blade from the forte to the tip
Etymologies
- Obsolete French foible, weak point of a sword, weak, from Old French feble, weak; see feeble.
Examples
“But I think my only foible is really spending so long in this other world.”
“When I bring up the latest Palin foible, my GOP co-workers ask me if I am afraid of Palin.”
“Upon these considerations, he met with a most engaging reception from the entertainer, who was a well-bred man, of some learning, generosity, and taste; but his foible was the desire of being thought the inimitable pattern of all three.”
“His foible was his admiration for the poets, and his belief that he could write poetry and was a first-rate critic.”
“Apparently his foible was a fondness for cats; one of them, a superb brindled Persian cat, is a great beauty, and seems a particular favourite.”
The Journal of Sir Walter Scott From the Original Manuscript at Abbotsford
“I'm certainly not immune to this kind of foible, and I think any reporter worth the skin he or she occupies would say the same.”
“Oddly enough, another word containing the same diphthong is my very favorite: "foible".”
“I guess a conviction and jail time for stalking a married woman who repeatedly asked him to stop harassing her and leaving used condoms on her lawn is only a "foible" if you're a Republican.”
“What really matters is how the voters receive, how the voters look at those candidates, and despite those foible and those flaws, if you will, of the misspoken word, people understand where their heart is, people understand these folks are gonna go out there and fight for them," Steele said.”
“One particular writing foible I have is to rephrase the same concept several times during the course of a paragraph or page, which not only annoys, it reduces the impact of whatever it is I was writing.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘foible’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Words to describe behavior
aberrant, hubris, calumny, sequester, ebullient, malfeasance, salubrious, foible, mercurial, laconic, fugacity, recalcitrant and 7 more...
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moshe's list
prelapsarian, ear-rent, fusty, fray, foible, smug, abeyance, misandry, inkhorn, incarnate, argot
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My favorites
foible, sidereal, amygdala, woodnote, cogitate, silvern, ollalieberry, ramify, diaphanous, surreality, myopia, subcelestial and 64 more...
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Fun to Say
Oh-so-pronounceable words.
schwa, sprack, rubbly, swashbuckler, hecka, tartine, ambiguous, ghee, trapped in, abecedarius, highfalutin, dirigible and 24 more...
dontcry Only from an upshot angle. Feb 27, 2009
bilby Holy hyperactive desert fleas, Foxman! Do my EARS look big in this?! Feb 27, 2009
sionnach So what's your point, big EARS? Feb 27, 2009
bilby It appEARS you only typed it. Proper written evidence shall be furnished to the Chancellor of Scribery by the close of business today in order to proceed with claim verification. Feb 27, 2009
sionnach
Faiblesse oblige.
I've always wanted to write that, and now I have. Feb 26, 2009
chained_bear In fencing, the weak part of the blade, nearest the tip. Feb 6, 2007