Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Black Sheep |
Black SheepNoun1. A reckless and unprincipled reprobate. 2. Sheep with a black coat. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Black Sheep [Kârâ-Koin-loo ]. A tribe of Turkomans, so called from their standards. This tribe was extirpated by the White Sheep (q.v.). A Black Sheep. A disgrace to the family; a mauvais sujet; a workman who will not join in a strike. Black sheep are looked on with dislike by shepherds, and are not so valuable as white ones. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonym: Black SheepSynonym: scapegrace (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Bad Man | Rou_, rake; Sadist; skeesicks, skeezix; limb; one who has sold himself to the devil, fallen angel, ame damnee, vaurien, mauvais sujet, loose fish, sad dog; rounder; lost sheep, black sheep; castaway, recreant, defaulter; prodigal. |
Unconformity | Nonconformist; nondescript, character, original, nonesuch, nonsuch, monster, prodigy, wonder, miracle, curiosity, flying fish, black sheep, black swan, lusus naturae, rara avis, queer fish; mongrel, random breed; half-caste, half-blood, half-breed; metis, crossbreed, hybrid, mule, hinny, mulatto; tertium quid, hermaphrodite. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Black Sheep |
| Specialty definitions using "black sheep": Bte Noire. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I once took pictures of a man who ate his own legs, and you would be the black sheep of that family. (Addicted to Love; writing credit: Robert Gordon) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Baa Baa Black Sheep (1974) The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942) Black Sheep (1935) The Black Sheep (1934) Black Sheep (1932) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Ba-ba black sheep!. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Baa-baa, black sheep. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | The black sheep. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | We took the black sheep by the tail and threw them out -- Khrushchev. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Hoyt's A black sheep. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
Expressions using "black sheep": black sheep person ♦ the black sheep of the family. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
black sheep | 249 | bistro black sheep | 4 |
albino black sheep | 166 | black sheep dvd | 4 |
black sheep squadron | 63 | black sheep music | 4 |
baa baa black sheep | 39 | black sheep tent | 3 |
albino black sheep.com | 13 | abino black sheep | 3 |
black sheep picture | 11 | belly black sheep | 2 |
black sheep inn | 10 | band black sheep | 2 |
black sheep movie | 8 | baa black sheep squadron | 2 |
the black sheep of the family | 5 | black sheep soundtrack | 2 |
ba ba black sheep | 5 | barbados belly black sheep | 2 |
black sheep wall | 2 | ||
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "black sheep"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | hor (rough). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | سافل (dirty, immoral, low, mean, pedestrian, raffish, varmint), ضحية (fall guy, martyr, patsy, prey, sacrifice, sinister, sufferer, victim), خروف أسود, شخص تافه (bauble, bugger, crumb, deformity, dog, insect, morsel, myrmidon, nitwit, peanut, pipsqueak, rag, sprat, swab, toad, trash). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | черна овца, безделник (bum, cornerman, dangler, dead beat, deadbeat, do nothing, fiddler, fribble, gadabout, good for nothing, hobo, lay about, loafer, loiterer, loon, lounger, spalpeen, spiv, tramp, twiddler, vagabond, wastrel). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | èerná ovce. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | brebis galeuse. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | απολωλόσ πρόβατο. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | בל (bastard, bounder, mean, rascal, scoundrel, varlet, villain, wicked). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | fekete bárány, közösség szégyene, család szégyene. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | pecora nera. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 爪弾き (ostracism, strumming). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | つまはじき (ostracism). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | keyrrey ghoo. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ackblay eepshay ovelha negra. (various references) выродок (degenerate, the black sheep). (various references) crna ovca. (various references) oveja negra. (various references) syndabock (fall guy, scapegoat, whipping boy). (various references) yüz karası (contempt, crime, ignominy, odium, offscourings, reproach, scandal), utanç kaynağı kimse. (various references) kẻ th nh tích bất hảo, đ" vô lại (cad, losel, tike, tyke). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | hepatitis infectiosa necrotica. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Genesis Chapter 30, Verse 35 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Kai diesteilen en th hmera ekeinh touV tragouV touV rantouV kai touV dialeukouV kai pasaV taV aigaV taV rantaV kai taV dialeukouV kai pan o hn leukon en autoiV kai pan o hn faion en toiV arnasin kai edwken dia ceiroV twn uiwn autou |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Et separavit in die illo capras et oves hircos et arietes varios atque maculosos cunctum autem gregem unicolorem id est albi et nigri velleris tradidit in manu filiorum suorum |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | And he toke out that same daye the he gootes that were partie and of dyuerse coloures and all the she gootes that were spotted and partie coloured and all that had whyte in the and all the blacke amonge the lambes: ad put the in the kepinge of his sonnes |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And he removed that day the he goats that were ring-streaked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And he removed that day the he-goats that were ring-streaked and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted; every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hands of his sons. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | So that day he took all the he-goats which were banded or coloured, and all the she-goats which were marked or coloured or had white marks, and all the black sheep, and gave them into the care of his sons; |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Genesis Chapter 30, Verse 35 |
| Cebuano | Ug gilain niya niadtong adlawa ang mga lake nga kanding nga binugkan, ug mga kabang, ug ang tanang mga kanding nga baye nga kabang ug sa lain nga bulok, ug ang tanang mga kahayupan nga may diyutay nga kaputi, ug ang tanang mga maitum sa taliwala sa mga carnero, ug gipiyal kini sa mga kamot sa iyang mga anak nga lalake. |
| Croatian | Ali toga dana Laban izluèi naprugane i šarene jarce i sve riðaste i šarene koze - svaku koja je na sebi imala bijelo - i sve garave ovce pa ih preda svojim sinovima. |
| Danish | Så udskilte han samme Dag de stribede og blakkede Bukke og de spættede og blakkede Geder, alle dem der havde hvide Pletter, og alle de sorte Får og overgav dem til sine Sønner, |
| Dutch | En hij zonderde af ten zelfden dage de gesprenkelde en geplekte bokken en al de gespikkelde en geplekte geiten, al waar wit aan was, en al het bruine onder de lammeren; en hij gaf dezelve in de hand zijner zonen. |
| Finnish | Ja samana päivänä hän erotti pois juovikkaat ja kirjavat vuohipukit ja kaikki pilkulliset ja kirjavat vuohet - kaikki, joissa oli jotakin valkoista - sekä kaikki mustat karitsat ja jätti ne poikiensa hoitoon. |
| German | Und sonderte des Tages die sprenkligen und bunten Böcke und alle gefleckten und bunten Ziegen, wo nur was Weißes daran war, und alles, was schwarz war unter den Lämmern, und tat's unter die Hand seiner Kinder |
| Hungarian | Külön választá azért azon a napon a pettyegetett és tarka kosokat, és minden csíkos lábú és tarka kecskét, mind a melyikben valami fehérség vala, és minden feketét a juhok közûl, és adá az õ fiainak keze alá. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Tetapi pada hari itu Laban memisahkan semua kambing jantan yang loreng atau belang dan semua kambing betina yang belang, berbintik-bintik, atau yang ada noda putihnya; ia juga memisahkan semua domba yang hitam. Kemudian disuruhnya anak-anaknya mengurus binatang-binatang itu, |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Maka pada hari itu juga diasingkannyalah segala kambing jantan yang bercorak dan berbelang dan segala kambing betina yang berintik dan berbelang dan segala yang berbelang putih, dan segala yang perang warnanya di antara segala domba, sekalian itu diserahkannya ke tangan anak-anaknya. |
| Maori | Na ka wehea e ia i taua rangi nga koati toa, nga mea whakahekeheke, me nga mea purepure, me nga koati uha e whai tongitongi ana, me nga mea purepure, nga mea he ma tetahi wahi, me nga mea pakaka o nga hipi, a hoatu ana ki nga ringa o ana tama; |
| Norwegian | Og samme dag skilte han ut de stripete og spraglete gjetebukker og alle flekkete og spraglete gjeter, alt det som hadde noget hvitt på sig, og alt sort blandt fårene; og han lot sine sønner ta vare på det, |
| Portuguese | E separou naquele mesmo dia os bodes listrados e malhados e todas as cabras salpicadas e malhadas, tudo em que havia algum branco, e todos os escuros entre os cordeiros e os deu nas mãos de seus filhos; |
| Rumanian | Kn aceeaw zi, a pus deoparte yapii bqlyayi wi pestriyi, toate caprele seine wi pestriye, toate cele ce aveau alb pe ele, wi toyi mieii cari erau negri. Le -a dat kn mknile fiilor sqi. |
| Swedish | Och samma dag avskilde han de strimmiga och brokiga bockarna och alla spräckliga och brokiga getter -- alla djur som något vitt fanns på -- och alla svarta djur bland fåren; och detta lämnade han i sina söners vård. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-b-c-e-e-h-k-l-p-s" | |
-2 letters: bechalks, bleaches, pleaches. | |
-3 letters: beaches, bechalk, beclasp, belches, beleaps, bespake, bespeak, chapels, hackees, hackles, heckles, keblahs, leaches, peaches, shackle, spackle, speckle. | |
-4 letters: abeles, ackees, alephs, asleep, baches, becaps, beleap, blacks, bleach, bleaks, bleeps, cables, celebs, chalks, chapel, chapes, cheaps, cheeks, cheeps, chelae, chelas, cleeks, clepes, elapse, escape, haceks, hackee, hackle, heckle, keblah, keleps. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Expressions | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Bible Trace | 13. Anagrams 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
