Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Causing scandal; shocking.
  • adjective Containing material damaging to reputation; defamatory.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Causing scandal or offense; exciting reproach or reprobation; extremely offensive to the sense of duty or propriety; shameful; shocking.
  • Opprobrious; disgraceful to reputation; that brings shame or infamy: as, a scandalous crime or vice.
  • Defamatory; libelous; slanderous: as, a scandalous report; in law procedure, defamatory or indecent, and not necessary to the presentation of the party's case.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Giving offense to the conscience or moral feelings; exciting reprobation; calling out condemnation.
  • adjective Disgraceful to reputation; bringing shame or infamy; opprobrious.
  • adjective Defamatory; libelous.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective wrong, immoral, causing a scandal
  • adjective malicious, defamatory

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective giving offense to moral sensibilities and injurious to reputation

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Medieval Latin scandalosus, via French scandaleuse; as if scandal + -ous.

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Examples

  • Schoolchildren are celebrating, commentators are astonished and purists are fuming over what they describe as a scandalous attack on 500 years of French history.

    EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL 2008

  • Quayle was notoriously subject to numerous reports about his alleged involvement in scandalous rumor website TheDirty. com, as well as other potential points of contention, in the run-up to his primary battle.

    Ben Quayle Trailing Democrat Jon Hurlburd In New Poll The Huffington Post 2010

  • Quayle was notoriously subject to numerous reports about his alleged involvement in scandalous rumor website TheDirty. com, as well as other potential points of contention, in the run-up to his primary battle.

    Ben Quayle Trailing Democrat Jon Hurlburd In New Poll The Huffington Post News Team 2010

  • The Catholic Encyclopedia article on scandal clarifies: "Still less can that be considered scandal, which only arouses comment, indignation, horror etc; it is true that the act arouses indignation and in common parlance it is often called scandalous, but this way of speaking is inaccurate, and in strictly theological terminology it is not the sin of scandal."

    The "homosexualization" of the clergy in Latin America 2009

  • Mr. Conkin thinks that, though current farm programs are often described as scandalous, agriculture cannot function in a free-market system.

    Where Yields Are Still High Blake Hurst 2008

  • Still less can that be considered scandal, which only arouses comment, indignation, horror etc., for instance blasphemy committed in the presence of a priest or of a religious; it is true that the act arouses indignation and in common parlance it is often called scandalous, but this way of speaking is inaccurate, and in strictly theological terminology it is not the sin of scandal.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 13: Revelation-Stock 1840-1916 1913

  • "Whom you admit into communion with you, according to the rules of the gospel, God will admit into communion with himself; and whom you cast out of communion as impenitent, and obstinate in scandalous and infectious sins, shall be bound over to the righteous judgment of God."

    Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume V (Matthew to John) 1721

  • "Diary of a Chambermaid" (1964; 10 p.m. Saturday), an adaptation of Octave Mirbeau's novel - filmed once before by Jean Renoir, during his American period, in 1946 - suggests in its title the scandalous, but is in fact one of the director's more straightforward works, a period exposé of political and social mores, with Jeanne Moreau as the titular servant.

    Berks county news 2009

  • The U.K. position is much closer to that of the U.S. The tough rhetoric from France and Germany -- Mr. S.rkozy called the bonus system "scandalous" -- is likely to compound the dilemma facing U.S. and foreign leaders as they try to broker an agreement to prevent financial crises, while avoiding restrictions that would stifle growth.

    France, Germany Set Up G-20 Tiff on Bank Rules 2009

  • Though she might flirt with being outrageous, and enjoy fulfilling the expectations of those who called her scandalous just to prove that their gossip meant nothing to her, she had no stomach for finding herself a true pariah.

    Shameless KAREN ROBARDS 2010

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