foible
pronunciation
How to pronounce foible in British English:
UK [ˈfɔɪbl]
How to pronounce foible in American English:
US [ˈfɔɪbəl]
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- Noun:
- a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual
- the weaker part of a sword's blade from the forte to the tip
Word Origin
- foible
- foible: see feeble
- foible (n.)
- 1640s, "weak point of a sword blade" (contrasted to forte), from French foible "a weak point, a weakness, failing," from noun use of Old French adjective feble "feeble" (see feeble). The spelling borrowed in English is obsolete in modern French, which uses faible. Extended sense of "weak point of character" is first recorded 1670s. Related: Foibles.
Example
- 1. A penchant for rich desserts is her only foible .
- 2. Whenever a local foible or tradition grabbed his interest , such as the country 's idiosyncratic waterway laws , he would research it exhaustively .
- 3. I shall never attempt to palliate my own foible by exposing the error of another .
- 4. " Science is his forte , and omniscience his foible " ( sydney smith ) .
- 5. My grandfather always carries his watch in his pocket ; it 's a foible of his .