fourbe

English

Alternative forms

• fourb

Etymology

Borrowed from French fourbe.

Noun

fourbe (plural fourbes)

1. (obsolete) A tricky fellow; a cheat.
   • 1668, John Denham, “The Passion of Dido for Æneas”, in Poems and Translations, with The Sophy, 4th edition, London: […] [John Macock] for H[enry] Herringman […], →OCLC, page 134:

     [N]ow Joves Envoyé through the Air / Brings diſmal tydings, as if ſuch low care / Could reach their thoughts, or their repoſe diſturb; / Thou art a falſe Impoſtor, and a Fourbe; […]

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “fourbe”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

French

Etymology

From fourbir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fuʁb/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

fourbe f (plural fourbes)

1. (literary) guile, deception

   Synonyms: fourberie, perfidie

   • 1874, Jean de La Fontaine, “L’Aigle, la Laie et la Chatte”, in Fables:

     La chatte détruisit par sa fourbe l’accord ; ¶ Elle grimpa chez l’aigle, et lui dit : Notre mort ¶ (Au moins de nos enfants, car c’est tout un aux mères) ¶ Ne tardera possible guères.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Noun

fourbe m or f by sense (plural fourbes)

1. double-dealer, swindler

   Synonym: salaud

   • 1832, Honoré de Balzac, chapter 2, in Ellen Marriage, transl., La Femme de trente ans:

     — Moi, s’écria-t-elle, j’irais livrer au premier fourbe qui saura jouer la comédie d’une passion les dernières, les plus précieuses richesses de mon cœur, et corrompre ma vie pour un moment de douteux plaisir ?

     "Do you think," she cried, "that I shall bestow the last, the most precious treasures of my heart upon the first base impostor who can play the comedy of passion?

Adjective

fourbe (plural fourbes)

1. deceitful, two-faced, treacherous

   Synonym: perfide

   Un esprit, un caractère, une âme fourbe. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Further reading

• “fourbe”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.