bar sinister
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
a mark of illegitimacy or disrepute
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
dấu hiệu của sự không hợp pháp hoặc mất uy tín
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: a diagonal line in heraldry
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The family's reputation was tarnished by a bar sinister.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “bar sinister” mean?
a mark of illegitimacy or disrepute Literally: a diagonal line in heraldry
Is “bar sinister” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.