sacred cow
Something which cannot be tampered with, or criticized, for fear of public outcrySomething which cannot be tampered with, or criticized, for fear of public outcry. A person, institution, belief system, etc. which, for no reason other than the demands of established social etiquette or popular opinion, should be accorded respect or reverence, and not touched, handled or examined too closely.
Meaning
1 senses(idiomatic)Something which cannot be tampered with, or criticized, for fear of public outcry. A person, institution, belief system, etc. which, for no reason other than the demands of established social etiquette or popular opinion, should be accorded respect or reverence, and not touched, handled or examined too closely.
heilige Kuh
свяще́нная коро́ваsvjaščénnaja koróva
- a person unreasonably held to be immune to criticism
Translations
6 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
Originally American English (early 1900s), a reference to the elevated place of cows in HiOriginally American English (early 1900s), a reference to the elevated place of cows in Hinduism.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: sacred cows| Singular | sacred cow |
|---|---|
| Plural | sacred cows |
regular
Word family
3 related wordsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.