scandalize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to shock or horrify by something considered immoral or improper.
-
Nautical. to spill the wind from or reduce the exposed area of (a sail) in an unusual manner.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
scandalizesimple
-
scandalizessimple
-
have scandalizedperfect
-
has scandalizedperfect
-
am scandalizingprogressive
-
are scandalizingprogressive
-
is scandalizingprogressive
-
have been scandalizingperfect progressive
-
has been scandalizingperfect progressive
Past
-
scandalizedsimple
-
had scandalizedperfect
-
was scandalizingprogressive
-
were scandalizingprogressive
-
had been scandalizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scandalize
1480–90; < Late Latin scandalizāre < Late Greek skandalízein. See scandal, -ize
Vocabulary lists containing scandalize
List 8
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
List 9
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Vocabulary from Readings 3, Unit 3
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
It is a risky undertaking—one that will probably scandalize the purists—but it is also a profoundly literary one.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Here’s a way to scandalize your guests at your holiday party: Serve them boxed wine.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 8, 2021
Her final chapter titled “Wild Child” is a panorama of bad deeds, as if to scandalize her children while also freeing them from fear of failure or harsh judgment.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2019
Does Picasso scandalize the art world by painting a nude Niffler?
From Slate ● Nov. 15, 2018
“You know I cain’t go, Hoyt. It would scandalize the town.”
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
An expression should never be banned for just being extremely offensive, regardless of whether it scandalizes a religious or any other type of cherished concept.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 19, 2022
Instead of treating them like the NFL’s beneficent owner-demigods, responsible for the league’s and players’ fortunes, college football instead ignores, scandalizes, and criminalizes any serious valuation of its athletes.
From Slate ● Dec. 1, 2020
Equally noteworthy are Georgia's "My Happy Family," a fine naturalistic examination of a 50-something woman whose desire to live alone scandalizes her patriarchal culture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 19, 2017
He seldom scandalizes his guests and rarely flings a martini into anyone's face.
From Time Magazine Archive
This is what I complain of; and this it is in you which scandalizes me.
From The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales by Camus, Jean Pierre
Vaughters spoke from experience: He’s a former member of Lance Armstrong’s scandalized U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
There were people who just saw it as part of the war effort, and there were people who were really, really scandalized.
From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2026
It became a hit at the same time as it scandalized the country.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
Although I haven’t been involved in AA in over a decade and openly write about my experience in the Program, I instinctively felt sort of scandalized by how blatant the personal “anonymity breaking” was.
From Slate ● Sep. 10, 2025
But many of my mother’s friends were scandalized that I had shown my face on TV.
From "Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World" by Malala Yousafzai
Writing in 1873, Nietzsche’s insistence that humanity will only achieve cosmic significance if it transcends itself—if it evolves to something greater and grander—was both scandalizing and revolutionary.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2023
One narrative was that Brooks was scandalizing the idea of “real” country music because he incorporated rock music into tracks like “Papa Loved Mama” and covered Aerosmith.
From Washington Post ● May 11, 2021
Moreover, McKinley welcomed the influx of immigrants then coming to America, scandalizing the GOP’s Anglo-Saxon Protestant leadership by inviting groups of foreign-born workers to visit his Canton, Ohio, home during his campaign.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2018
Tennis was perhaps never more popular than when McEnroe and Connors were scandalizing the sport’s old guard.
From New York Times ● Aug. 25, 2016
Few think there is any immorality in scandalizing governments or ministers; and M. Klein's distresses render this resource more innocent in him, than it is in most others.
From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 2 by Randolph, Thomas Jefferson
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.
