mark of the beast

American  

noun

1. (in the Bible) a physical mark placed on those who worship the Antichrist and are in opposition to God.

2. something taken to be a sign of evil, corruption, or infamy.

   The way he talks about the uselessness of politics, you'd think that voting in a national election was the mark of the beast.

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Etymology

Origin of mark of the beast

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English

Example Sentences

Their taste for the fine arts is strangely increased, And Latin's no longer a mark of the beast: Mathematics, at present, a farmer may know, Without being hanged for connections below.

From The Poems of Philip Freneau, Volume II (of III) by Freneau, Philip

They were men and women beyond the pale, the thirty of them, for upon them had been placed the mark of the beast.

From The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii by London, Jack

Considerable light can be thrown upon the subject of the sealing of God's servants and of the mark of the beast by consulting Roman history for the origin of such expressions.

From The Revelation Explained by Smith, F. G. (Frederick George)

Yet for some reason over- eating is considered the mark of the beast, and over-drinking the mark of rather a fine fellow.

From Not that it Matters by Milne, A. A. (Alan Alexander)

She had that mean admiration for birth, position, adventitious advantages, which is the mark of the beast in the essentially aristocratic or snobbish nature.

From The Woman Who Did by Allen, Grant