bar sinister

See synonyms for bar sinister on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Heraldry. (not in technical use) a bend sinister or a baton.

  2. the proof, condition, or stigma of illegitimate birth.

Origin of bar sinister

1
First recorded in 1815–25

Words Nearby bar sinister

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bar sinister in a sentence

  • The bar sinister was on his shield; his credentials were the advice of an unreal person to fight in common with the whites.

    John Ermine of the Yellowstone | Frederic Remington
  • Brindle is so pedigreed I don't believe he would thank you for the bar sinister you put on him.

  • The bar sinister stayed him from Broadweald, so the judges had said, and haughty Fitzooth had perforce to bear with their finding.

    Robin Hood | Paul Creswick
  • The forgotten deeds of desperate valor—all useless now, and stained forever with the bar sinister of his treason.

    A Fascinating Traitor | Richard Henry Savage
  • It is utterly impossible to draw a bar sinister—such a thing does not exist.

    A Complete Guide to Heraldry | Arthur Charles Fox-Davies

British Dictionary definitions for bar sinister

bar sinister

noun
  1. (not in heraldic usage) another name for bend sinister

  2. the condition, implication, or stigma of being of illegitimate birth

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012