scandal

American  

[skan-dl] / ˈskæn dl /

noun

• scandals
  plural

1. a disgraceful or discreditable action, circumstance, etc.

2. an offense caused by a fault or misdeed.

3. damage to reputation; public disgrace.

   Synonyms:

   ignominy, opprobrium, disrepute, shame, dishonor, discredit

4. defamatory talk; malicious gossip.

   Synonyms:

   obloquy, aspersion, calumny, slander

   Antonyms:

   praise, honor

5. a person whose conduct brings disgrace or offense.

---

verb (used with object)

scandaled, scandaling, scandalled, scandalling

1. British Dialect. to defame (someone) by spreading scandal.

2. Obsolete. to disgrace.

scandal British  

/ ˈskændəl /

noun

1. a disgraceful action or event

   his negligence was a scandal

2. censure or outrage arising from an action or event

3. a person whose conduct causes reproach or disgrace

4. malicious talk, esp gossip about the private lives of other people

5. law a libellous action or statement

---

verb

1. to disgrace

2. to scandalize

Synonym Usage

See gossip.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• miniscandal
  noun
• scandalousness
  noun
• superscandal
  noun
• scandalous
  adjective
• scandalously
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• scandals
  plural

---

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

---

Explanation

Scandal is disgraceful events or nasty gossip about people's private lives, like the scandal that erupted when you were seen at the mall with your best friend's girlfriend. Just because there's a scandal, it doesn't mean it's always true — being seen with your friend's girl? What the gossips didn't know it that you were buying his birthday present. Some scandals, though, involve public figures who have been found guilty. For example, if a politician is found guilty of taking bribes, that's a scandal that will rock your town, causing outrage not to mention the end of that politician's career.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scandal scandals

The same month that news of the scandal broke, ABC parted ways with the anchors, and they deactivated their social media accounts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

This is happening, it writes, "despite the furore over the cheating scandal".

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

If audiences already know the intimate details of how a very real public leak, whistle-blow, or scandal came together, what’s left for them to learn by fictionalizing it all?

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

The protests are widely seen as a reprise of CJP's mass mobilisation in July, which led to the education minister stepping down over an examination scandal.

From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026

“Like the rest of us, they felt a scandal would further divide the city. They offered to make a sizable donation in order to preserve the peace.”

From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson

After numerous scandals under Moore, McDonnell was seen as offering stability while the city prepared for the massive security challenges of the World Cup and Olympic Games.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Noem was summoned before Congress over those scandals and others, including her alleged misuse of government funds on television advertisements and private luxury jets.

From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2026

Initiatives to label books as written by humans, and not artificial intelligence, are gaining ground following a string of scandals where authors were suspected of using the technology without admitting it.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

The arrest is one of the biggest scandals to engulf the BND spy agency since its creation in the mid-1950s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Ellet was that rare thing in the nineteenth century, not only a female author but one who had written about both women and scandals before.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• crime
• rumor
• wrongdoing

---