28 March 2017

bête noire

plural bêtes noires \ˌbet-ˈnwär(z), ˌbāt-\

: a person or thing strongly detested or avoided : bugbear

Examples of bête noire in a sentence

a politician who is the bête noire of liberal groups

Origin and Etymology of bête noire

French, literally, black beast

First Known Use: 1805

Synonyms

bogey, black beast, bugaboo, bugbear, dread, hobgoblin, ogre

Antonyms

love

Related Words

apparition, ghost, phantasm (also fantasm), phantom, poltergeist, shade, specter (or spectre), spirit, spook, wraith; banshee, bogeyman (also bogyman), demon (or daemon), devil, fiend, ghoul, imp, incubus; fright, horrible, horror, monster, monstrosity, terror; bane, curse, enemy, plague, scourge, torment; abomination, anathema

Merriam-Webster

Anagram

be orient
one tribe
into beer
nite robe
tie borne

Today’s quote

Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.

– Albert Einstein

On this day

28 March 1930 – Turkey changes the name of Constantinople to Istanbul and Angora to Ankara.

28 March 1939 – end of the Spanish Civil War, with Nationalist General Francisco Franco taking control of Madrid after a 3 year war against the Government of the Second Spanish Republic, which was led by President Manuel Azaña. Franco established a fascist dictatorship which lasted for 36 years. The Civil War had been fought between Fascist and Republican forces. The Republicans were comprised of a number of socialist, communist and anarchist forces. The Soviet Union backed the Republicans, but opposed other socialist forces such as the POUM (Workers Party of Marxist Unification), PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party), CNT (Confederationo of anarcho-syndicalist trade unions) and others.

28 March 1964 – The Beatles have 10 hits in the Billboard charts at the same time.

28 March 2008 – President George W. Bush states that the USA is not in recession, but just slowing down and that tax cuts will stimulate spending. The US National Bureau of Economic Research declared the USA recession started in December 2007 and ended in July 2009.

28 March 2008 – The Pew Centre reports that the USA has the highest number of incarcerations in the world, at 2.3 million, which surpasses the number of prisoners in China, Russia and Iran. The USA also has the highest rate of imprisonments in the world as a percentage of population.