A black sheep: (Bad kirdar, kali bhair)
A black sheep spoils the whole flock.
(Bad kirdar aadmi poray giroh ko khrab ker deta hai)
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2014.
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
A black sheep spoils the whole flock.
(Bad kirdar aadmi poray giroh ko khrab ker deta hai)
black sheep
noun
1.
a sheep with black fleece.
2.
a person who causes shame or embarrassment because of deviation from the accepted standards of his or her group.
1785-1795
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2014.
black sheep
noun
1.
a person who is regarded as a disgrace or failure by his family or peer group
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
n.
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).
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
black sheep definition
A person
who is considered a disgrace to a particular group, usually a family:
“Uncle Jack, who was imprisoned for forgery, is the black sheep of the
family.”
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third EditionCopyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
black sheep
The least reputable member of a group; a disgrace. For example, Uncle Fritz was the black sheep of the family; we always thought he emigrated to Argentina to avoid jail.
This metaphor is based on the idea that black sheep were less valuable
than white ones because it was more difficult to dye their wool
different colors. Also, in the 16th century, their color was considered
the devil's mark. By the 18th century the term was widely used as it
is today, for the odd member of a group.
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