foible

[ foi-buhl ]

noun

1. a minor weakness or failing of character; slight flaw or defect:

   an all-too-human foible.

   Synonyms: peculiarity, eccentricity, crotchet, quirk, frailty

   Antonyms: strength

2. the weaker part of a sword blade, between the middle and the point ( forte ).

foible

/ ˈfɔɪbəl /

noun

1. a slight peculiarity or minor weakness; idiosyncrasy
2. the most vulnerable part of a sword's blade, from the middle to the tip Compare forte 1

Word History and Origins

Origin of foible¹

First recorded in 1640–50; from French, obsolete form of faible feeble

Word History and Origins

Origin of foible¹

C17: from obsolete French, from obsolete adj: feeble

Synonym Study

See fault.

Example Sentences

“He used to tell me that every joke has a message. Whatever you’re laughing at, you’re laughing at some foible of yours or somebody else’s. What is learned from laughter is learned well.”

From Washington Post

Mice, it turns out, can’t puke — a little foible that typically makes it difficult to use them to study nausea.

From New York Times

"Never For Ever" ultimately produced three Top 20 singles, including the indelible foible "Babooshka."

From Salon

“Nathan for You” was zippy, and loath to waste a minute, especially when it could reveal a charming or dumbfounding human foible.

From Washington Post

Only once does she talk of their offscreen life together: In the fourth episode, she tells her mother, “Every time I think my marriage has become simple, Simon and I find some new stone to turn over, a new foible that one of us needs the other to tease out and inspect,” she says.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• eccentricity
• failing
• frailty
• idiosyncrasy
• infirmity
• peculiarity
• quirk
• shortcoming
• weakness