Foible

//ˈfɔɪbəl// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A quirk, idiosyncrasy, frailty, or mannerism; an unusual habit that is slightly strange or silly. in-plural

    "Try to look past his foibles and see the friendly fellow underneath."

  2. 2
    the weaker part of a sword's blade from the forte to the tip wordnet
  3. 3
    A weakness or failing of character.

    "Jesus is reverenced as the one man who has lived unspotted by the world, free from human foibles, able to redeem mankind by his example."

  4. 4
    a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual wordnet
  5. 5
    Part of a sword between the middle and the point, weaker than the forte.
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  1. 6
    a minor flaw or shortcoming in character or behavior. wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Weak; feeble. obsolete

    "The good Fencing-maſters, in France eſpecially, when they preſent a Foyle or Fleuret to their Scholars, tell him it hath two Parts, one of which he calleth the Fort or ſtrong, and the other the Foyble or weak […]"

Synonyms

All synonyms
faultidiosyncrasybad habitbesetting sinblemishbug

Antonyms

All antonyms
virtue

Example

More examples

"Her tendency to talk too much when she's nervous is a foible I can tolerate."

Etymology

1640–50, from Early Modern French foible (“feeble”) (contemporary French faible). Doublet of feeble.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.