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      • bête noire noun [ C ] uk / bet ˈnwɑː r/ us / bet ˈnwɑːr / plural bêtes noires uk / bet ˈnwɑː r/ us / bet ˈnwɑːr / Add to word list a person or thing that you dislike very much or that annoys you:
      dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/bete-noire
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  2. a person or thing that you dislike very much or that annoys you: My particular bête noire is cigarette butts being left in half-empty glasses. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Feelings of dislike and hatred. abhorrence. abomination. anathema. animosity. animus.

  3. The meaning of BÊTE NOIRE is a person or thing strongly detested or avoided : bugbear. How to use bête noire in a sentence.

  4. If you refer to someone or something as your bete noire, you mean that you have a particular dislike for them or that they annoy you a great deal.

  5. Something or someone a person views with particular dislike: “The new candidate for governor is the bête noire of all the liberals in the state.” From French, meaning “black beast.”

    • Etymology
    • Pronunciation
    • Noun
    • Further Reading

    Unadapted borrowing from French bête noire (“(figurative) intolerable person”, literally “black beast”).

    (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /bɛt ˈnwɑː/, /beɪt-/
    (General American) IPA(key): /bɛt ˈnwɑɹ/
    Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

    bête noire (plural bêtes noires) 1. Someone or something that is unbearable and so particularly avoided or disliked; the bane of someone's existence; an object of aversion; an anathema. 1.1. Synonym: bugbear 1.1. 1833 October, “Art. V.—Mémoires de Madame la Duchesse d’Abrantes, ou Souvenirs Historiques sur Napoleon, la Revolution, le Directoire, le...

    bête noire (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
    Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “bete noire”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  6. bête noire British English : bogey NOUN / ˈbəʊɡɪ / A bogey is something or someone that people are worried about, perhaps without much cause or reason.

  7. Definition of bête noire noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

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