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  1. Dictionary
    bête noire
    /bɛt ˈnwɑː/

    noun

    • 1. a person or thing that one particularly dislikes: "great-uncle Edward was my father's bête noire"

    More definitions, origin and scrabble points

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

  3. BÊTE NOIRE definition: 1. a person or thing that you dislike very much or that annoys you: 2. a person or thing that you…. Learn more.

  4. 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.
  5. Learn the meaning, pronunciation and usage of the French word bête noire, which means a person or thing that particularly annoys you and that you do not like. See examples, synonyms and related words in the Oxford dictionary app.

  6. BÊTE NOIRE translate: hate. Learn more in the Cambridge French-English Dictionary.

  7. English Translation of “BÊTE NOIRE” | The official Collins French-English Dictionary online. Over 100,000 English translations of French words and phrases.