bête noire

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bête noire

/bɛt ˈnwɑː/ UK
/beɪt-/ UK
/bɛt ˈnwɑɹ/ US

Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)

Where it comes from

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

noun bêtes noires

Someone or something that is unbearable and so particularly avoided or disliked; the bane of someone's existence; an object of aversion; an anathema. [A] petticoated politician was [Napoleon] Bonaparte's bête noire, or antipathy, […]
Similar: antipathy, bugbear

Translations

Every language

noun someone or something that is unbearable and so particularly avoided or disliked

Español	bestia negra
中文	深惡痛絕 /深恶痛绝 shēn wù tòng jué
Português	besta negra
Français	bête noire
Русский	жу́пел žúpel
עברית	כבשה שחורה Kivsá Shxorá

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MLA

"bête noire." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/b%C3%AAte%20noire. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

bête noire. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/b%C3%AAte%20noire

Chicago

"bête noire." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/b%C3%AAte%20noire.

BibTeX

@misc{be_te_noire_2026,
  title = {bête noire},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/b%C3%AAte%20noire},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}