scandal

Where “scandal” sits in English frequency

Definition

1. 1
   An incident or event that disgraces or damages the reputation of the persons or organization involved.
2. 2
   Damage to one's reputation.
3. 3
   Widespread moral outrage, indignation, as over an offence to decency.
4. 4
   A word or deed, lacking in rectitude in some manner, which is an occasion of the spiritual ruin of another.
5. 5
   Defamatory talk; gossip, slander.
6. 6
   amateur or homemade pornography; (informal) commotion.

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.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: csandal,sacndal,scadnal,scanadl,scandall,scanddal,scandla,scanndal,sccandal,scnadal,sscandal

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of scandal - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

Frequently Asked Questions