foibles

noun

plural of foible
as in weaknesses
a defect in character could tolerate my uncle's foibles because we loved him dearly

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of foibles Advertisement The Sydney gang’s all back in Liane Moriarty’s sequel to her mammoth bestseller, Big Little Lies, showcasing the midlife foibles of Renata, Jane, Bonnie, Madeline, and Celeste. — Hamilton Cain, Time, 7 July 2026 His foibles in the playoffs came to fruition while trying to guard Joel Embiid. — Tom Rende, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026 Set in the eponymous Texas metropolis, Dallas followed the Ewings, a powerful family of oil tycoons and ranch owners whose feuds and foibles made for wildly entertaining primetime viewing. — Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 28 June 2026 For a long time, the lifestyles and foibles of the modest bourgeoisie were a mainstay of art-house cinema, with urbane, upscale audiences happy to turn out to see versions of their own lives depicted on the screen. — Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2026 Earlier, Tracy was talking about being willing to expose your foibles as an actor and to let these people who don’t have to put their faces on-camera use them. — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 19 June 2026 But Tom came in, offering a completely different personality with his own pluses, minuses and foibles. — Pat Saperstein, Variety, 14 June 2026 Each of their characters has their foibles but neither ever leans unlikable. — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 5 June 2026 Rue descends into crime, working with Nazis, the feds, and a Black cowboy in a drug plot that stems from her adolescent foibles with monotone drug dealer Laurie (Martha Kelly). — Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 29 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for foibles
  1. weaknesses
  2. faults
  3. shortcomings
  4. sins
Noun
  • Fourteen months before Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapsed, its supervisors had already identified serious weaknesses in its liquidity risk management.
    — Amer Al Ahbabi, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
  • At a meeting earlier this month, the RMG Sustainability Council warned that structural weaknesses could put lives and property at risk if the building remained open.
    — Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 17 July 2026
Definition of weaknesses
Noun
  • In truth, heat waves stress power grids in a number of ways, producing faults and outages on a variety of scales, small and large.
    — Scott Montgomery, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026
  • But at least Janet, for all of her faults, is working toward a resolution.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 16 July 2026
Definition of faults
Noun
  • This can lead to unpredictable behavior, biased algorithms and ethical shortcomings—all of which can lead to harmful outputs with the potential to badly undermine customer trust.
    — Chris Dimitriadis, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
  • Dee Atkins and Natasha Jenkins demonstrated their understanding of the system’s shortcomings during the hearing.
    — Nik Hunder, Chicago Tribune, 19 July 2026
Definition of shortcomings
Noun
  • Among Ashley’s many sins, none were more wicked than the alienation of club legends, particularly Keegan.
    — James Pearce, New York Times, 22 July 2026
  • That creates a dangerous possibility of AI as the ultimate seven-sins machine.
    — Regan Peng, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026
Definition of sins

Browse Nearby Words

foible
foibles
foil
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Foibles.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/foibles. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on foibles

Nglish: Translation of foibles for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of itinerant

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 24

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
thumbnail graphic with text word of the day quiz
Weekly "Word of the Day" Quiz See how well you know each Word of the Day for Ju...
See All