foible

American  

[foi-buhl] / ˈfɔɪ bəl /

noun

foibles plural

1. a minor weakness or failing of character; slight flaw or defect.

   an all-too-human foible.

   Synonyms:

   peculiarity, eccentricity, crotchet, quirk, frailty

   Antonyms:

   strength

2. the weaker part of a sword blade, between the middle and the point (opposed to forte).

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foible British  

/ ˈfɔɪbəl /

noun

1. a slight peculiarity or minor weakness; idiosyncrasy

2. the most vulnerable part of a sword's blade, from the middle to the tip Compare forte 1

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Synonym Usage

See fault.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• foibles
  plural

Etymology

Origin of foible

First recorded in 1640–50; from French, obsolete form of faible feeble

Explanation

If you repeat foible out loud enough times, it sounds so funny that you can laugh at it and maybe remember to laugh at the odd and distinctive weaknesses of others — the foible or two or a hundred that we all have. Sometimes a foible helps make a person who they are, even if the foible, or weakness ("feeble" is a close relative), is a little odd. Synonyms for foible in a negative sense are "failing," "shortcoming," and in a more positive sense "quirk," "eccentricity." It can likewise be annoying or endearing. Most people have a foible, or idiosyncrasy, that stands out to others, but interestingly, a person rarely sees his or her own characteristic foible.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

foible foibles

If one had to nail down the central theme of “The Audacity,” aside from pure human foible, it would be the perils posed to privacy by the profitability of data.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026

“He used to tell me that every joke has a message. Whatever you’re laughing at, you’re laughing at some foible of yours or somebody else’s. What is learned from laughter is learned well.”

From Washington Post ● Dec. 8, 2022

Mice, it turns out, can’t puke — a little foible that typically makes it difficult to use them to study nausea.

From New York Times ● Nov. 1, 2022

Jones happily recites the joke using the other word, and the two men laugh, having been caught in a foible of their profession.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2021

In old days they had laughed at Harry's love affairs as at his foible; he seemed all foible now—there was nothing else.

From Second String by Hope, Anthony

Throughout his career, Neill pitted himself against creatures both real and imagined — or, even more often, somewhere in-between — to reveal humanity’s foibles in the face of the freakish and fantastic.

From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026

Brandon Webb is talking the way parents do when their kids aren’t around—tallying their strengths and foibles, failures and wins, and the extent to which his own shortcomings as a father may have contributed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026

Writing about their failures, foibles and frustrations did not lessen the hold that these three men and their movie magic have on Fischer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026

A surgical approach to the flaws and foibles of American society.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026

“I think these personal foibles of mine were tolerated among many as long as things were going well,” he said.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

• eccentricity
• failing
• frailty
• idiosyncrasy
• infirmity
• peculiarity
• quirk
• shortcoming
• weakness