Meaning & use
foible
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Meaning
nouncountable
A small quirk or weakness in someone's character that others find slightly odd or amusing rather than serious.
Grammar: Usually plural: everyone's foibles.
Patterns
- someone's foibles
- a foible of someone
His habit of checking the weather every hour is just one of his foibles.
She is patient with the foibles of her elderly neighbours.
Every family has its little foibles that others quickly learn to accept.
Word forms
| plural | foibles |
|---|
Common combinations
- human foibles
- The novel gently mocks human foibles.
- personal foible
- Always arriving an hour early is her personal foible.
- tolerate someone's foibles
- A good roommate learns to tolerate foibles.
- forgive a foible
- We forgive his foibles because he is so kind.
- harmless foible
- Collecting teapots is a harmless foible.
Synonyms and how they differ
- quirk
- Quirk is more neutral and can be charming, while foible hints at a slight weakness.
- idiosyncrasy
- Idiosyncrasy is a more formal word for any peculiar trait, not necessarily a weakness.
- failing
- Failing suggests a more definite fault, whereas foible is minor and forgivable.
- vice
- Vice implies a serious moral fault, which a foible is not.
Opposites
Word family
- feeble adjective
- weak; from the same old French root as foible
Commonly confused: foible or fable? foible or foil?
foible vs fable
A fable is a short story with a moral. A foible is a minor personal weakness; the two sound somewhat alike.
foible vs foil
A foil is a contrasting character or a thin metal sheet, not a character weakness.
Practice
Which of these would most naturally be called a foible?
Choose one answer.
A foible is a minor, harmless quirk, like reading signs aloud. The other options are serious wrongdoing, not foibles.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “foible”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.