bête noire UK /bɛt ˈnwɑː/US /bɛt ˈnwɑɹ/ noun1 •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, […] — 1833 formsbêtes noires