bêtise
Americannoun
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lack of understanding, perception, or the like; stupidity.
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a stupid or foolish act or remark.
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something inconsequential or without merit; absurdity; trifle.
noun
Etymology
Origin of bêtise
1820–30; < French: literally, foolishness, equivalent to bête foolish ( see beast) + -ise -ice
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They know that the battle is decided by fate, personified in what they like to call la bêtise humaine – the sheer stupidity of other people.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 20, 2012
I’m not going to commit the bêtise of asking who she is.”
From The Secret of Lonesome Cove by Adams, Samuel Hopkins
What a bêtise on the part of Mother Nature.
From April's Lady A Novel by Hungerford, Margaret Wolfe
As Mr. Punch himself pointed out this bêtise in Dod's &c., &c., for 1889, it should have been corrected in the new edition.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98, February 8, 1890 by Various
Still, even that bêtise of mine need not prevent you from seeing some truth in my argument.
From April's Lady A Novel by Hungerford, Margaret Wolfe
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
