black mark

noun

: something that makes something else less perfect or less appealing

His habitual tardiness was a black mark against him.

Examples of black mark in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This is in part a reflection of its appeal to bad actors as a sort of currency-that’s-not-a-currency, but also a black mark on law enforcement and regulators, who allowed this to grow into a series of multi-billion-dollar scams basically unfettered until several burst. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 25 May 2024

How will his proposal to put a black mark on the school record of children found to have misbehaved do anything other than bar them from access to higher education? —The Week Uk, theweek, 5 May 2024

For many drivers of EVs in Florida — the nation’s second largest market for electrical vehicles — premature tire wear has become an unexpected black mark…. —Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 11 Feb. 2024

For many drivers of EVs in Florida — the nation’s second largest market for electrical vehicles — premature tire wear has become an unexpected black mark on vehicles promoted as a green climate-friendly option to gas-gulping cars. —Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 24 Jan. 2024

The black mark against Oppenheimer's name wasn't fully cleared until December 2022—right around the time the first trailer for Oppenheimer appeared. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 5 Aug. 2023

Also, Johnson’s conduct after the 2020 election is a black mark on his record. —The Editors, National Review, 26 Oct. 2023

What makes this British movie rise above a million other films like it, however, is its refusal to view looking back as a way of shutting the door on a historical black mark. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 10 June 2023

Despite the black mark on his record from 2010, Quenneville also has plenty of positives on his resume. —Carol Schram, Forbes, 6 May 2023