scandal
Americannoun
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a disgraceful or discreditable action, circumstance, etc.
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an offense caused by a fault or misdeed.
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damage to reputation; public disgrace.
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defamatory talk; malicious gossip.
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a person whose conduct brings disgrace or offense.
verb (used with object)
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British Dialect. to defame (someone) by spreading scandal.
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Obsolete. to disgrace.
noun
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a disgraceful action or event
his negligence was a scandal
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censure or outrage arising from an action or event
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a person whose conduct causes reproach or disgrace
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malicious talk, esp gossip about the private lives of other people
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law a libellous action or statement
verb
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to disgrace
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to scandalize
Related Words
See gossip.
Other Word Forms
- miniscandal noun
- scandalous adjective
- scandalously adverb
- scandalousness noun
- superscandal noun
Etymology
Origin of scandal
1175–1225; from Late Latin scandalum from Late Greek skándalon “snare, cause of moral stumbling”; replacing Middle English scandle from Old French (north) escandle from Late Latin, as above
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.
In pursuit of their first championship since 1989, the Wolverines lost three title games, weathered a pay-for-play scandal and burned through six head coaches.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026
Numerous states passed “blue sky laws” to suppress bucket shops, yet the biggest scandal was yet to come.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
The scandal coincided with the termination of its chief executive, Ross Levinsohn, who once held a leadership role at the Los Angeles Times.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 5, 2026
Greek police last year made dozens of non-political arrests over the scandal.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
But the public—and especially the public in Shaker Heights—was deeply invested in the Mirabelle McCullough case now, and this, unlike the intern scandal, felt deadly serious.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.