foible

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈfɔɪbəl/ UK /ˈfɔɪbəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a minor weakness or eccentricity in someone's character

We learned to tolerate each other's little foibles.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a minor weakness or... weakness quirk failing eccentricity idiosyncrasy peculiarity frailty

Opposites

strength virtue

Word family

Related forms feeble

Etymology

From obsolete French foible ('weak'), an earlier form of modern French faible, from Latin flebilis ('lamentable, to be wept over'), from flere ('to weep'). Originally the weak part of a sword blade.

foible Old French flebilis Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# foible

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈfɔɪbəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈfɔɪbəl/

## Meanings
1. a minor weakness or eccentricity in someone's character

## Examples
- We learned to tolerate each other's little foibles.

## Synonyms
- weakness
- quirk
- failing
- eccentricity
- idiosyncrasy
- peculiarity
- frailty

## Antonyms
- strength
- virtue

## Related Forms
- feeble

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: foible
- Root: flebilis

## Etymology
From obsolete French foible ('weak'), an earlier form of modern French faible, from Latin flebilis ('lamentable, to be wept over'), from flere ('to weep'). Originally the weak part of a sword blade.

## AI Etymology
Foible is from obsolete French foible ('weak'), an earlier form of modern French faible, from Latin flebilis ('lamentable, to be wept over'), from flere ('to weep'). Originally the weak part of a sword blade. Important recorded forms include foible (Old French) and flebilis (Latin). The current sense covers a minor weakness or eccentricity in someone's character. The wider family includes related words such as feeble.

## Topics
- People & Society

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