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Synonyms for black sheep


Grammar : Noun



Définition of black sheep

Origin :
  • by 1822 in figurative sense of "member of some group guilty of offensive conduct and unlike the other members," supposedly because a real black sheep had wool that could not be dyed and was thus worth less. But one black sheep in a flock was considered good luck by shepherds in Sussex, Somerset, Kent, Derbyshire. Baa Baa Black Sheep nursery rhyme's first known publication is in "Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book" (c.1744).
  • noun disgraceful person
Example sentences :
  • Bill Dozier was with him, Bill who was the black sheep in the fine old Dozier family.
  • Extract from : « Way of the Lawless » by Max Brand
  • As little notion had his father that his son Cornelius was a black sheep.
  • Extract from : « Weighed and Wanting » by George MacDonald
  • We are content to say that there are black sheep in every flock and so pass on.
  • Extract from : « Morals in Trade and Commerce » by Frank B. Anderson
  • Well, good-bye, dear, and don't worry too much about your black sheep.
  • Extract from : « People of Position » by Stanley Portal Hyatt
  • Rosa was her especial torment; the black sheep of the brood.
  • Extract from : « Great Men and Famous Women, Vol. 8 (of 8) » by Various
  • I've be'n somethin' of a black sheep—but the black's wearin' off in spots.
  • Extract from : « Prairie Flowers » by James B. Hendryx
  • You know as well as I do that she has always looked upon me as a black sheep.
  • Extract from : « Tom Gerrard » by Louis Becke
  • He is one of the Walthams of Virginia, a black sheep, true, but a Waltham.
  • Extract from : « The Mutiny of the Elsinore » by Jack London
  • Was there a bit of black sheep in her, and was the man calling to it?
  • Extract from : « The Pagan Madonna » by Harold MacGrath
  • However, there is a skeleton in every fold—I mean to say, a black sheep in every cupboard.
  • Extract from : « Marge Askinforit » by Barry Pain

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019