the black sheep
/ðə ˌblæk ˈʃiːp/NEUTRAL · C1
Meaning
someone whose behaviour embarrasses their family or group
Examples
- 1My uncle was always the black sheep of the family, borrowing money and never paying it back.
- 2After dropping out of three courses and crashing Dad's car, Ben became the black sheep of the family.
- 3Everyone in the family is a doctor or a lawyer except Leo, the black sheep who's been sacked from every job.
- 4Aunt Rose embarrassed everyone at the wedding again; she's always been the black sheep.
- 5Why is Maria treated like the black sheep just because she left the family business?
Grammar
A noun phrase, usually with of and the group: the black sheep of the family. Keep the.
More idioms about animals
All 20 idioms and the topic quiz →like water off a duck's backhaving no effect on someone despite criticism or warningshave bigger fish to fryto have more important things to deal withhave a bee in your bonnetto keep talking about an idea you consider very importanta wild goose chasea pointless search that cannot succeedbark up the wrong treeto be mistaken about a cause or solutionthe lion's sharethe largest part of something
English Idioms400 idioms in 20 topics — with reviews that keep them from fading
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