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foible

By Grace Fleming, About.com

Definition: (noun) odd habit; idiosyncrasy; distinctive attribute

In a Quote:

Now you know that when Providence shapes a mouth especially for the accommodation of a potato you can detect that fact at a glance when that mouth is in repose—foreign travel can never remove that sign. But he was a very delightful gentleman, and his little foible did not hurt him at all.

From The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, by Mark Twain, Charles Dudley Warner, and Louis J. Budd, published in 1873.

Also Known As: fault; characteristic

Examples: The trouble started when his little foibles became tiresome quirks.

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