scandal
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
an event or action that shocks people because it is morally wrong or illegal.
an incident involving a perceived or actual violation of law or ethics that results in public outrage and reputational damage.
Simple“The politician had to resign after a financial scandal was reported in the news.”
In context“The corporate scandal involving embezzled funds led to a complete overhaul of the company's executive board and a sharp decline in share prices.”
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
talk or reports about the shocking things other people have done.
malicious or defamatory talk regarding the private lives or conduct of others.
Simple“The magazine is full of scandal about famous movie stars.”
In context“The local community was rife with scandal following the sudden and unexplained departure of the village priest.”
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.