blot one's copy book

verb

To damage one's own reputation through bad behavior.

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Meanings

verbblot one's copy book (third-person singular simple present blots one's copy book, present participle blotting one's copy book, simple past and past participle blotted one's copy book)

present singular third person blots one's copy book · participle present blotting one's copy book · participle past blotted one's copy book · past blotted one's copy book · alternative blot one's copybook

  1. idiomaticTo damage one's own reputation through bad behavior.

    Now, it was the College that had blotted its copybook

    1935, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night
    1 more example

    Indeed, it was not uncommonly heard that the crown should skip a generation and be conferred on Prince William, who, so far at least, had not blotted his copybook and was more popular than his father.

    2023, Theodore Dalrymple, “From Duty to Decadence”, in City Journal
Cite this entry
APA

blot one's copy book. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blot%20one's%20copy%20book

MLA

“blot one's copy book.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blot%20one's%20copy%20book. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “blot one's copy book,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blot%20one's%20copy%20book.

Source: blot one's copy book on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.