Definition of scandal Scandal

/skæˈndʌl/ - [skandul] - scan•dal

We found 19 definitions of scandal from 7 different sources.

What does scandal mean?

Noun Plural: scandals
scandal - a disgraceful event
		outrage
		trouble an effort that is inconvenient; "I went to a lot of trouble"; "he won without any trouble"; "had difficulty walking"; "finished the test only with great difficulty"
		skeleton in the closet, skeleton in the cupboard, skeleton the internal supporting structure that gives an artifact its shape; "the building has a steel skeleton"
scandal - disgraceful gossip about the private lives of other people
		dirt, malicious gossip
		scuttlebutt, comment, gossip a written explanation or criticism or illustration that is added to a book or other textual material; "he wrote an extended comment on the proposal"

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scandal (Noun)
An incident or event that disgraces or damages the reputation of the persons or organization involved.
scandal (Noun)
Damage to one's reputation.
scandal (Noun)
Widespread moral outrage, indignation, as over an offence to decency.
scandal (Noun)
Religious discredit; an act or behaviour which brings a religion into discredit.
scandal (Noun)
Something which hinders acceptance of religious ideas or behaviour; a stumbling-block or offense.
scandal (Noun)
Defamatory talk; gossip, slander.
scandal (Verb)
To treat opprobriously; to defame; to slander.
scandal (Verb)
To scandalize; to offend.

scandal (n.)
Offense caused or experienced; reproach or reprobation called forth by what is regarded as wrong, criminal, heinous, or flagrant: opprobrium or disgrace.
scandal (n.)
Reproachful aspersion; opprobrious censure; defamatory talk, uttered heedlessly or maliciously.
scandal (n.)
Anything alleged in pleading which is impertinent, and is reproachful to any person, or which derogates from the dignity of the court, or is contrary to good manners.
scandal (v. t.)
To treat opprobriously; to defame; to asperse; to traduce; to slander.
scandal (v. t.)
To scandalize; to offend.

scandal
A widely publicized incident involving allegations of wrong-doing, disgrace, or moral outrage.

scandal
skan′dal, n. something said which is false and injurious to reputation: disgrace: opprobrious censure.—v.t. to defame, to aspire.—ns. Scan′dal-bear′er, a propagator of malicious gossip; Scandalisā′tion, defamation.—v.t. Scan′dalise, to give scandal or offence to: to shock: to reproach: to disgrace: to libel.—n. Scan′dal-mong′er, one who deals in defamatory reports.—adj. Scan′dalous, giving scandal or offence: calling forth condemnation: openly vile: defamatory.—adv. Scan′dalously.—ns. Scan′dalousness; Scan′dalum-magnā′tum, speaking slanderously of high personages, abbrev. Scan. Mag. [Fr. scandale—L. scandalum—Gr. skandalon, a stumbling-block.]

A scandal is a very public incident which involves a claim of wrong-doing, shame, or moral offence. A scandal may be about a real event, an untrue event (often called a false allegation) or a mixture of both.

Scandals may be told by whistleblowers, who have access to secrets and allow them to go public. A well-known scandal was the Watergate scandal, in which US President Richard Nixon was found to be supporting and hiding illegal burglaries. Untrue claims often lead to a loss of respect for that person, and can destroy their careers. Sometimes an attempt to cover up a scandal creates a bigger scandal when the cover-up does not succeed.