scandalize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
scandalizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
scandalized,
past participle, past
-
scandalizing
present participle
-
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
These events scandalize, yet “The Girl With the Needle” is most intriguing when it lingers in its disturbing fictions, which come to life with exceptional style.
From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2024
Here’s a way to scandalize your guests at your holiday party: Serve them boxed wine.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 8, 2021
This particular terrible thing does not scandalize me.
From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2020
I think Jackson got it to scandalize me, since the red velvet cover was decidedly lurid, but it ended up being a very good story.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
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
If Hauerwas' rough speech and pointed views are taken as scandalous within academic society, he believes that what really scandalizes the so-called wisdom of the world is the message of the cross.
From Time Magazine Archive
They inform his father that he is suspected of embezzlement, and get him drunk, whereupon the old man scandalizes the company by a burst of uncomplimentary candor.
From Essays on Scandinavian Literature by Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen
Back in 1988, after a D.C. journalist obtained and published a list of movies rented by Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, a scandalized Congress passed the Video Privacy Protection Act.
From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2026
Because for as many people as Byrd tantalized during her legendary cable run through the ’80s and ’90s, there were just as many who were outraged and scandalized by her sex-positive, queer-inclusive values.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
They reportedly scandalized their neighbors with loud music and trash piles and performed the dances that dominated the app ironically rather than earnestly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
Noem, whose husband was in the hearing room on Wednesday, acted scandalized by Kamlager-Dove’s inquiry.
From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2026
I longed to say that I did not want to spend the rest of my life dressed as a widow, but I knew Sass would be scandalized by such words.
From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan
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
There’s no record of whether Bart actually put on the robe and ascot, but he and Liberty hit it off immediately and had puppies together, scandalizing upper-crust pet society.
From Slate ● Jan. 31, 2021
Did you have any hesitation about stepping into the role of a hallowed figure, or sense any resistance from believers to the scandalizing aspects of the series?
From New York Times ● Jan. 3, 2020
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
Suppose we walk out to church to-morrow before breakfast, Nell——" "Phil, you are mad, I think; and why should we do such a thing, scandalizing everybody?
From The Marriage of Elinor by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
