Word.ws English Dictionary

black dog syndrome

black dog syndrome noun: a disputed phenomenon according to which black dogs tend to be passed over for adoption in favor of lighter-colored animals, perhaps because of superstition or the belief that they are more aggressive.

Noun

black dog syndrome (uncountable)

  1. A disputed phenomenon according to which black dogs tend to be passed over for adoption in favor of lighter-colored animals, perhaps because of superstition or the belief that they are more aggressive.
    • Black Dog Syndrome is prejudice and discrimination against dogs that are black, and it is a real issue.2019, KJ Fallon, Zen and the Rescue Dog, Post Hill Press, →ISBN

Questions about black dog syndrome

What does black dog syndrome mean?
Black dog syndrome means a disputed phenomenon according to which black dogs tend to be passed over for adoption in favor of lighter-colored animals, perhaps because of superstition or the belief that they are more aggressive.
What part of speech is black dog syndrome?
Black dog syndrome is a noun.

Words near black dog syndrome in the dictionary

  1. Black Death
  2. black diamond
  3. black diamonds
  4. Black Ditch
  5. black dog
  6. black dog syndrome
  7. black dolphin
  8. black dolphins
  9. black don't crack
  10. black dose
  11. black doses

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: black dog syndrome (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “black dog syndrome.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/black_dog_syndrome. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.