scandalous
Americanadjective
-
disgraceful; shameful or shocking; improper.
scandalous behavior in public.
-
defamatory or libelous, as a speech or writing.
-
attracted to or preoccupied with scandal, as a person.
a scandalous, vicious gossip.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of scandalous
From the Medieval Latin word scandalōsus, dating back to 1585–95. See scandal, -ous
Explanation
Scandalous describes something that's shocking, and maybe a little embarrassing or even offensive. Your great-grandfather might be a scandalous character in your family history if he was married seven times, each time to younger and younger wives. The adjective scandalous can refer to something morally offensive, or even illegal, although it's used often simply to mean "shocking". It describes something that has potential to cause a scandal, which comes from the Greek skandalon, "a trap laid for an enemy." This idea of a trap or a snare is a great metaphor; you can stumble into scandal as if it's just waiting for you to make a misstep, and if you do the results will be scandalous.
Vocabulary lists containing scandalous
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 3
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
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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.
"It's always somebody else's fault: it's either the local authorities' fault or the scandalous profiteering residential sector; nobody will seem to accept responsibility", he says.
From BBC • May 20, 2026
Yet social media, leniency and the pace of scandalous events in the U.S. have undoubtedly raised the threshold of public perception.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026
Teases Echevarria, “tonally the episode is a little bit different and it’s a little more scandalous but certainly contemporary.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2026
The subterranean passage was part of Horsley Towers in Leatherhead, a grand mansion once lived in by Lovelace, also the only legitimate child of scandalous 19th Century poet Lord Byron.
From BBC • Mar. 17, 2026
But the paper presented these allegations as scandalous bombshells, call-ing them “startling disclosures.”
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
