scandal

Pluralscandals

Formsscandals

1. 1
   nouncountable

   An event or action that disgraces the people or organization involved and damages their reputation.

   A corporate accounting scandal wiped billions off the firm's value overnight.

   The senator never recovered from the scandal that ended his career.

   Similaraffair, controversy, disgrace, outrage, embarrassment

   Note

   The word began as a trap. Greek skándalon was a snare laid for an enemy, Church Latin made it a stumbling block, and French gave it the sense of indignation at misconduct. In this everyday meaning it takes ready adjectives: a grave scandal, a big scandal, a political scandal. Shakespeare shows an older construction, a scandal to someone, in Henry VI (1591): “what a scandal is it to our crown.”

2. 2
   noununcountable

   Public outrage and indignation over something seen as morally offensive or indecent.

   The painting provoked scandal when it was first exhibited.

   News of the cover-up created scandal throughout the nation.

   Similaroutrage, indignation, uproar, furor, outcry

3. 3
   noununcountable

   Harm or damage done to one's reputation.

   The family went to great lengths to keep scandal from touching their name.

   He retired quietly to spare himself further scandal.

   Similardisgrace, dishonor, discredit, shame, ignominy

   Oppositehonor, credit, respectability

4. 4
   noununcountable

   Defamatory talk; malicious gossip or slander.

   The drawing rooms buzzed with scandal about the new arrivals.

   He earned a living by selling scandal to the newspapers.

   Similargossip, slander, calumny, defamation, dirt

   Note

   Gossip as a social force, sometimes treated almost as a person. Trollope writes in The Warden (1855) that “Scandal at Barchester affirmed” a rumor, then adds that “here probably Scandal lied, as she so often does.” The everyday construction is quieter: village scandal, according to scandal. The word names the talk that circulates, not the incident it concerns, and that is how it differs from the disgraceful event.

5. 5
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A word or deed lacking in moral rectitude that becomes an occasion for another person's spiritual ruin.

   Theologians taught that a leader's hypocrisy gives scandal to the faithful.

   Public sin by a respected figure can be a grave scandal, drawing the weak into the same error.

   Similaroffense

   Oppositeedification

   Note

   Here the old image of the stumbling block is still at work. In theology, the harm lies less in the wrongdoer's own fault than in what it does to someone else: a word or act trips another person into sin. The Greek sense of “a cause of moral stumbling” fits this meaning almost exactly. It is the closest of all the senses to the word's origin, which is told under the everyday disgrace.

6. 6
   nouncolloquialPhilippinescountable or uncountable

   Amateur or homemade pornography; or, informally, a commotion or fuss.

   A cache of scandal was leaked online without anyone's consent.

   The toddlers made such a scandal that the whole house woke up.

   Similarfuss, commotion, ruckus, racket, porn

   Note

   Philippine English gives the noun two casual uses that other varieties do not share. One names amateur or homemade sexual video. The other means a noisy fuss, as when children make a scandal. Elsewhere, English speakers will hear only the sense of disgrace, so a remark about someone's scandal can mislead. When writing for an international audience, a plainer word avoids the confusion.

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