albatross around one's neck

Coleridge's Ancient Mariner (engraving by Gustave Doré, 1876)

Meaning

Noun

  • A characteristic, possession, associate, or previous deed that hinders one's ability to succeed.

Origin

  • From The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, wherein a sailor's killing of an albatross brings bad luck and results in the dead bird being hung around the killer's neck by his crewmates.

Modern English dictionary

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