scarlet letter
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of scarlet letter
An Americanism dating back to 1840–50
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.
Backers say the limits avoid saddling arrestees with a digital scarlet letter that can cause lasting harm in employment and housing even after an acquittal or dismissal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
"A hit list of the haves and the have-nots - a scarlet letter," Hanks said during a heated public meeting at City Hall on Tuesday.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
I believe he lived with a scarlet letter on him because of it.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2025
Controversial newsmakers—Monica Lewinsky, Tonya Harding, Lorena Bobbitt among them—had the term pinioned to them like a scarlet letter, stripping away their accomplishments and leaving only scorned husks of their real selves.
From Salon ● Mar. 23, 2025
But the old woman in the chimney-corner turned away her head; and never forgot that Maggie had stolen God's gift, and that the scarlet letter was on the boy's white forehead.
From An Isle in the Water by Katharine Tynan
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.
