scandal
/ˈskæːndəl/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.17 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An incident or event that disgraces or damages the reputation of the persons or organization involved.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "The incident brought considerable scandal to his family."
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈskæːndəl/
- British English: /ˈskændəl/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
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