Foible
['fɒɪb(ə)l]
Definition
(noun.) the weaker part of a sword's blade from the forte to the tip.
Checked by Helena--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Weak; feeble.
(n.) A moral weakness; a failing; a weak point; a frailty.
(n.) The half of a sword blade or foil blade nearest the point; -- opposed to forte.
Inputed by Jarvis
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Frailty, weakness, failing, defect, infirmity, imperfection, fault, weak point, weak side, blind side.
Edited by Lenore
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Peccadillo, failing, fault, weakness, infirmity
ANT:Crime, atrocity, enormity, sin
Editor: Sweeney
Definition
n. a weak point in one's character: a failing.
Typed by Lena
Examples
- That lady had her own comfort and nonpareil on a much larger scale, andfor the moment, absent; so she sympathised with his foible. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- But I said I would not make you my confessor, for you cannot reciprocate foible for foible; you are not weak. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Notwithstanding these foibles, and various others needless to mention--but by no means of a refined or elevating character--how pretty she was! Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Now that was tact, for two of the ruling foibles of the masculine mind were touched. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- He knew that this was like the sudden impulse of a madman--incongruous even with his habitual foibles. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- And no tyrant-passion dragged him back; no enthusiasms, no foibles encumbered his way. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- But if you set forth the foibles of Londoners as plainly as you did in 'The Honey Bees,' I am afraid you would have half a dozen libel cases. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
Edited by Clifford