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What is "foible"

Crossword clues for foible

foible
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
foible
noun
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Her act is full of funny observations on human foibles.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ In fact, he was often quite outspoken about people, though usually with reference to their harmless foibles.
▪ Just another screwy episode in a tournament filled with foibles.
▪ Obviously every nation has its foibles of this kind.
▪ The Inspectors all know each other extremely well and sometimes have to tolerate each other's little foibles, too.
▪ Their bedroom doors closed, and suddenly our foibles became the topic of dinner conversation.
▪ Their personalities are easily exaggerated, their foibles ripe for caricature or psychotherapy.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Foible

Foible \Foi"ble\, a. [OF. foible. See Feeble.] Weak; feeble. [Obs.]
--Lord Herbert.

Foible

Foible \Foi"ble\, n.

  1. A moral weakness; a failing; a weak point; a frailty.

    A disposition radically noble and generous, clouded and overshadowed by superficial foibles.
    --De Quincey.

  2. The half of a sword blade or foil blade nearest the point; -- opposed to forte. [Written also faible.]

    Syn: Fault; imperfection; failing; weakness; infirmity; frailty; defect. See Fault.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
foible

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 The spelling borrowed in English is obsolete in modern French, which uses faible.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.

Wiktionary
foible

a. (context obsolete English) weak; feeble. n. 1 A quirk, idiosyncrasy, or mannerism; unusual habit or way (usage is typically plural), that is slightly strange or silly. 2 (context fencing English) Part of a sword between the middle and the point, weaker than the forte. 3 A weakness or failing of character.

WordNet
foible

  1. n. a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual [syn: idiosyncrasy, mannerism]

  2. the weaker part of a sword's blade from the forte to the tip

Usage examples of "foible".

She might be absurdly non-streetwise and hardly safe out on her own, but affectedness and pose-striking were not among her foibles.

Sir Alured, with all his foibles, and with all his faults, was a pure-minded, simple gentleman, who could not tell a lie, who could not do a wrong, and who was earnest in his desire to make those who were dependent on him comfortable, and, if possible, happy.

This good lady, whose foible is well known to my readers, made me laugh when she said that her genius had told her that I had got myself arrested to be talked about, for reasons which were known only to myself.

This statement seemed rather obtuse, even for her, and Muzeni - who did not know her conversational foibles as well as Terrel or Elam - sought to challenge her.

She regarded his prudishness as a quaint minor foible, and she certainly did not want to disillusion or estrange him.

Lula Belle brushed her question aside as she rhapsodized about men and their foibles.

Paul entertained me with imitations of local merchants and dignitaries he had dealt with in Salies, and he displayed a capacity for scathing caricature that was surprising, together with a lack of sympathy for human foible that was not surprising at all.

The North American often exasperated Tambo with his quirks and foibles.

However, with all his foibles, he is a charming creature, and prepossession only can blind you to his merit.

He does not rely heavily on research nor does he deal with psychopathology, but his messages about the joys and foibles of love are masterpieces.

Mother was the most teasable person I ever knew, and my brother Andy could get her to laughing so hard at her own foibles that tears would run down her cheeks.

There is no doubt that God delivers people from various kinds of bondage instantaneously, but for a Christian to attribute foibles to the direct activity of demons is both unbiblical and psychologically harmful.

Sir Alured, with all his foibles, and with all his faults, was a pure-minded, simple gentleman, who could not tell a lie, who could not do a wrong, and who was earnest in his desire to make those who were dependent on him comfortable, and, if possible, happy.

He could almost see the young woman he had supposedly partied with, although her motivations wavered: was she trying to claw her way up the social ladder from a not-quite-important family, or was she a muckraking journalist out to expose the foibles of the rich and notorious?

This good lady, whose foible is well known to my readers, made me laugh when she said that her genius had told her that I had got myself arrested to be talked about, for reasons which were known only to myself.