black sheep

black sheep
black sheep 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).

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Black sheep — Black Black (bl[a^]k), a. [OE. blak, AS. bl[ae]c; akin to Icel. blakkr dark, swarthy, Sw. bl[ a]ck ink, Dan. bl[ae]k, OHG. blach, LG. & D. blaken to burn with a black smoke. Not akin to AS. bl[=a]c, E. bleak pallid. [root]98.] 1. Destitute of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • black sheep — n [C usually singular] someone who is regarded by other members of their family or group as a failure or embarrassment ▪ Amy s always been the black sheep of the family …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • black sheep — Someone who is the black sheep doesn t fit into a group or family because their behaviour or character is not good enough …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • black sheep — noun count someone who is not approved of by the other members of their family or the group they belong to because they are thought to behave badly …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • black sheep — black′ sheep′ n. a person who causes shame or embarrassment because of deviation from the accepted standards of his or her group …   From formal English to slang

  • black sheep — [n] disgraceful person ne’er dowell, outcast, pariah, prodigal, reject, reprobate; concept 423 …   New thesaurus

  • black sheep — ► NOUN informal ▪ a member of a family or other group who is regarded as a disgrace to it …   English terms dictionary

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