bêtise

American  

[be-teez] / bɛˈtiz /

noun

1. lack of understanding, perception, or the like; stupidity.

2. a stupid or foolish act or remark.

3. something inconsequential or without merit; absurdity; trifle.

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bêtise British  

/ bɛˈtiːz /

noun

1. rare folly or lack of perception

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Etymology

Origin of bêtise

1820–30; < French: literally, foolishness, equivalent to bête foolish ( see beast) + -ise -ice

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bêtise

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

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

"It was a bêtise, a slip of the pen; I admit you are right," and indifferently I opened Coralie's effusion, smiling over it.

From Man and Maid by Glyn, Elinor

Do not, for Heaven’s sake, make such a frightful bêtise.

From The Claw by Stockley, Cynthia

Now this lofty forgetting of your poor existence—or mine—is not aristocratic hauteur or patrician insolence; it is bêtise pure et simple, as they call it in France.

From The Martian by Du Maurier, George