Definitions

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  • noun Plural form of foible.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • In 1866, as Concord was putting up its stone tribute to the war dead, John Hay — a kind of mini-Seward in his merriment and sophisticated tastes — concluded, not implausibly, that "Lincoln with all his foibles is the greatest character since Christ."

    No Ordinary Tome 2005

  • In 1866, as Concord was putting up its stone tribute to the war dead, John Hay — a kind of mini-Seward in his merriment and sophisticated tastes — concluded, not implausibly, that "Lincoln with all his foibles is the greatest character since Christ."

    No Ordinary Tome 2005

  • For, let it not be forgotten that the Hindu regards what we call our foibles of petulance, arrogance, and intolerance, with the same disapprobation and disgust as we do their more frequent violation of the seventh, eighth, and ninth commandments of the Decalogue.

    India, Its Life and Thought 1881

  • One of the reasons that I frequently write on humanity's foibles is because about eight months back, I got a big horse's kick to the head that told me that I needed to change my life.

    Lost 2004

  • It will be important to feel our way through it, and realize that the power we have to learn about each others’ lives and minds and feelings and foibles, is just the beginning of the changes the new environment is bringing about.

    Scripting News for 9/13/07 « Scripting News Annex 2007

  • “Marusek, showing a potentially volatile synergy of technology and human foibles, is a writer who gives the impression that he’s been to the future, seen it work, and has come back to tell us all about it.”

    Subterranean Press » 2007 » April 2007

  • His foibles are a boon for the TV talking heads, and since there's nobody to put them in check, it's easy to ramble on about what Tiger should be doing, how he's only going to get one chance to make his come back, and how he has to make the BIG apology.

    Robbie Vorhaus: Tiger Woods, Oprah and a Remarkable Return... Maybe 2010

  • She inherited such of her father's virtues as compose the proper ornament of her sex; and with regard to what are termed the foibles of great souls, her highness had in no wise degenerated.

    Court Memoirs of France Series — Complete Various

  • When I am far away and something recalls my foibles and my faults, remember that in spite of them, my heart was true to you; that I have but one wife and one darling boy to whom my heart clings as its anchor and to whom it will continue to cling while I live.

    Diary, March 19-August 25, 1864. 1864

  • But the proposal caught Edouard on his foible, his vanity, to wit; and our foibles are our manias.

    White Lies Charles Reade 1849

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  • From M&W Dictionary

    Main Entry:

    foi·ble Listen to the pronunciation of foible

    Pronunciation:

    \?fo?i-b?l\

    Function:

    noun

    Etymology:

    obsolete French (now faible), from obsolete foible weak, from Old French feble feeble

    Date:

    circa 1648

    1 : the part of a sword or foil blade between the middle and point 2 : a minor flaw or shortcoming in character or behavior : weakness

    synonyms see fault

    April 23, 2009