foible
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L320816 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈfɔɪbəl/
adj
Etymology: 1640–50, from Early Modern French foible (“feeble”) (contemporary French faible). Doublet of feeble.
- Weak; feeble.
“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 […]”
noun
Etymology: 1640–50, from Early Modern French foible (“feeble”) (contemporary French faible). Doublet of feeble.
- A quirk, idiosyncrasy, frailty, or mannerism; an unusual habit that is slightly strange or silly.
“Try to look past his foibles and see the friendly fellow underneath.”
“He knew that this was like the sudden impulse of a madman—incongruous even with his habitual foibles.”
- 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.”
- Part of a sword between the middle and the point, weaker than the forte.