scandal
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: lifestyle
religion
theology
Etymology: From Middle French scandale (“indignation caused by misconduct or defamatory speech”), from Ecclesiastical Latin scandalum (“that on which one trips, cause of offense”, literally “stumbling block”), from Ancient Greek σκάνδαλον (skándalon, “a trap laid for an enemy, a cause of moral stumbling”), from Proto-Indo-European *skand- (“to jump”). Cognate with Latin scandō (“to climb”). First attested from Old Northern French escandle, but the modern word is a reborrowing. Doublet, via Old French esclandre, of slander.
Sense evolution from "cause of stumbling, that which causes one to sin, stumbling block" to "discredit to reputation, that which brings shame, thing of disgrace" is possibly due to early influence from other similar sounding words for infamy and disgrace (compare Old English scand (“ignominity, scandal, disgraceful thing”), Old High German scanda (“ignominy, disgrace”), Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰 (skanda, “shame, disgrace”)). See shand, shend, shonda.
Inflected forms:
form: scandals
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: An incident or event that disgraces or damages the reputation of the persons or organization involved.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Their affair was reported as a scandal by most tabloids.
O, what a scandal is it to our crown,
That two such noble peers as ye should jar!
It would not be fair to record the adventures of Father Brown, without admitting that he was once involved in a grave scandal.
Well, yes, a couple of leaks are all very well, but it takes more than that... A big scandal perhaps. A political scandal. Or a scandal about something people really understand: Sex... or money.
But electric vehicles and the batteries that made them run became ensnared in corporate scandals, fraud, and monopolistic corruption that shook the confidence of the nation and inspired automotive upstarts.
gloss: Damage to one's reputation.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: The incident brought considerable scandal to his family.
Such a scandal as the prosecution of a brother for forgery—with a verdict of guilty—is a most truly horrible, deplorable, fatal thing. It takes the respectability out of a family perhaps at a critical moment, when the family is just assuming the robes of respectability:[…].
gloss: Widespread moral outrage, indignation, as over an offence to decency.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: When their behaviour was made public it caused a great scandal.
gloss: A word or deed, lacking in rectitude in some manner, which is an occasion of the spiritual ruin of another.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: Defamatory talk; gossip, slander.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: According to village scandal, they weren't even married.
Scandal at Barchester affirmed that had it not been for the beauty of his daughter, Mr. Harding would have remained a minor canon; but here probably Scandal lied, as she so often does; for even as a minor canon no one had been more popular among his reverend brethren in the close, than Mr. Harding; and Scandal, before she had reprobated Mr. Harding for being made precentor by his friend the bishop, had loudly blamed the bishop for having so long omitted to do something for his friend Mr. Harding.
gloss: amateur or homemade pornography
pos: noun
tags: Philippines
colloquial
countable
uncountable
gloss: commotion.
pos: noun
tags: Philippines
colloquial
countable
informal
uncountable
Derived words: nonscandal
postscandal
prescandal
Russian scandal
scandal bag
scandalette
scandalise
scandalism
scandalize
scandalmonger
scandal of particularity
scandalous
scandal-plagued
scandalproof
scandal-ridden
scandal sheet
scandalsome
Translations: