scabby sheep

noun

A person who has been in bad society and is consequently shunned to prevent their bad habits or reputation from spreading.

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Meanings

nounscabby sheep (plural scabby sheep)
  1. A person who has been in bad society and is consequently shunned to prevent their bad habits or reputation from spreading.

    […] the Abbot ought to be informed of the fast, and bestow upon the Monk a corrective discipline; and that, if he did not mend his manners in consequence thereof, he ought to be expelled from the Society, as a scabby sheep, lest he should ruin others by his example.

    1780, Jean Louis de Lolme, The History of the Flagellants, page 124
Cite this entry
APA

scabby sheep. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scabby%20sheep

MLA

“scabby sheep.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scabby%20sheep. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scabby sheep,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scabby%20sheep.

Source: scabby sheep on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.