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
- scandalization noun
- scandalizer noun
- unscandalized adjective
Etymology
Origin of scandalize
1480–90; < Late Latin scandalizāre < Late Greek skandalízein. See scandal, -ize
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.
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
Such a procedure should not scandalize anyone in our time.
From The New Yorker • Oct. 7, 2019
But unlike the prime-time soaps of yore, “UnReal” and “Being Mary Jane” use these extreme stories to illuminate real ideas, rather than just to scandalize or titillate.
From New York Times • Apr. 29, 2016
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
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.
