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
Synonym Usage
See gossip.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
Vocabulary lists containing scandal
"Laws are not the only way to boost immunization”: an editorial from Nature
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for September 11–September 17, 2021
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Simply Scandalous!
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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.
See Examples For:
A British funeral director faced prison Monday over a scandal that saw bodies left "stored on racks" and uncremated while relatives were handed other people's ashes, sparking calls for better regulation of the industry.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Despite his involvement in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal in 2017, ex-Dodgers infielder Alex Cora remains a respected manager who should rebound from the Red Sox firing him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
The story journalists told about Mark Lamb’s victory Tuesday night was one of victory over scandal.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026
The largest maternity scandal in NHS history is set to become the focus of a new television drama starring Harry Potter actor Jason Isaacs.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
“With every passing day, Watergate was circumscribing our freedom of action,” Kissinger, the one person unscathed by scandal, later said.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
Jackson, who campaigned heavily with Platner before the scandals, had the support of roughly 75 percent of the volunteers who rallied behind the now-disgraced former Senate candidate.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
The army has been blighted by several scandals -- particularly over an unpopular mobilisation drive, the treatment of conscripts and reports of widespread absenteeism and equipment shortages in some units.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
By rubber-stamping a fourth term despite these toxic scandals, football's governing bodies are showing they are content to sit in rotten squalor rather than strive for something better.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
The incident spurred Michigan to ask law firm Jenner & Block to investigate the culture inside an athletic department that had been embroiled in a string of scandals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Consider the corporate scandals of the early 2000s.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
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.
