bend sinister

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.

That in heraldry, a bend sinister indicates bastardy.

From New York Times • Dec. 19, 2019

He even showed her his complicated coat-of-arms, which included a bend sinister, for he had royal blood in his veins; and this slanting rod interested Isabel as deeply as the moat under the window.

From Ancestors A Novel by Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn

Remember that most all slang is of vulgar origin and bears upon its face the bend sinister of vulgarity.

From How to Speak and Write Correctly by Devlin, Joseph

There were several generations of them, and used for their arms those of Bonville with the addition of a bend sinister; they also became extinct.

From The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the West by Rogers, William Henry Hamilton

All these families bear the arms described by your correspondent, but without the bend sinister.

From Notes and Queries, Number 51, October 19, 1850 by Various