as in blunder
a foolish act or idea
writing a sequel to a Jane Austen novel must be regarded as a literary bêtise of the highest order
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bêtise
Noun
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The post 9/11 blunders in which Cheney played a part can be tied to the rise of ISIS, perennial instability in the Middle East, the migrant crisis and the crushing debt burden ($38 trillion and counting) that looms over the US economy.—
Ben Wedeman,
CNN Money,
5 Nov. 2025 -
Potential adversaries interpret political action in zero-sum terms; see malice and evil design in mere blunders and coincidence; trumpet necessity rather than navigate choice; and, in extreme cases, invent pretext or promise profit to make more palatable a dubious cause.—
Elizabeth D. Samet,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
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This insanity has to stop before anyone else gets hurt.—
Emma Bussey,
FOXNews.com,
6 Nov. 2025
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Though his legal team argued insanity, Guiteau was found guilty of murder in January 1882 and executed five months later.—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Advertisement Aster keenly satirizes Joe’s idiocy in the face of social upheaval through the iconography of Westerns.—
Robert Daniels,
Time,
10 Oct. 2025
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But my naivete and idiocy about what this was going to take was staggering to me just six months later.—
Scott Feinberg,
HollywoodReporter,
19 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Alps is really about the absurdity of acting in general, and perhaps the specific psychological burden of the Method in particular.—
A.A. Dowd,
Vulture,
24 Oct. 2025
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The costumes point out the absurdity of bringing National Guard troops into cities, Faith Gill said.—
Darcie Moran,
Freep.com,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Jim Cramer has long believed that taking only a top-down view on picking stocks can be sheer folly.—
Morgan Chittum,
CNBC,
22 Oct. 2025
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Kleinschmidt’s sessions, with their assistance in permitting him to air these childhood traumas and the interplay of insight and folly in Freudianism, was the stew out of which emerged the novel that made Roth a household name.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Why should Curtis have to back down to **maybe** save that city from its own stupidity?—
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 2025
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The Snack Homiez’ back-and-forth, soothing in its stupidity, reminded me of this Kate McKinnon-Aidy Bryant two-hander from 2021.—
Charu Sinha,
Vulture,
19 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Bêtise.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/b%C3%AAtise. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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