naughty step
Britishnoun
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a place where a child is made to stand as a punishment for bad behaviour
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to experience public disfavour, usu. because of perceived wayward behaviour
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Of course, no country, big or small, likes sitting on the council's naughty step, and they all try to avoid it.
From BBC • Oct. 7, 2022
In the process, he wrecked his relationship with the DUP and earned himself a rebuke from its then leader Arlene Foster who said her party had sent him to the "naughty step in Parliament".
From BBC • Jul. 7, 2022
For Palace, Luka Milivojevic sits out this one on the naughty step, with Wednesday’s late match-winner James McArthur picked to replace him ahead of Jason Puncheon.
From The Guardian • Dec. 16, 2017
Will she be sent out of the room when the grownups are talking, perhaps, and told to sit on the naughty step?
From The New Yorker • Feb. 4, 2017
The Confederation of British Industry has already called for banks to be removed from the "naughty step", after a prolonged regulatory crackdown following the financial crisis.
From Reuters • Oct. 3, 2016
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
