scandalous
Scandalous describes something that's shocking, and maybe a little embarrassing or even offensive. Your great-grandfather might be a scandalous character in your family history if he was married seven times, each time to younger and younger wives.
The adjective scandalous can refer to something morally offensive, or even illegal, although it's used often simply to mean "shocking". It describes something that has potential to cause a scandal, which comes from the Greek skandalon, "a trap laid for an enemy." This idea of a trap or a snare is a great metaphor; you can stumble into scandal as if it's just waiting for you to make a misstep, and if you do the results will be scandalous.
-
giving offense to moral sensibilities and injurious to reputation“scandalous behavior”
-
synonyms:
disgraceful, shameful, shocking
-
immoral
deliberately violating accepted principles of right and wrong
-
immoral
/ˈskændələs/
/ˈskændələs/
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Vocabulary lists containing scandalous
Seventh graders Link, Michael, and Dana start a project to bring people together and figure out who's responsible for a string of recent antisemitic hate crimes in their small town.
Yusuf Azeem, a twelve-year-old Muslim boy in rural Texas, learns to face heartache and Islamaphobia ahead of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
After a knee injury dashes her dreams of becoming a ballerina, twelve-year-old Maisie struggles with recovery during a midwinter family road trip.
Look up scandalous for the last time
Close your vocabulary gaps with personalized learning that focuses on teaching the words you need to know.
