scandalous
Meanings
- Of a thing: causing or having the nature of a scandal; regarded as so immoral or wrong as to be extremely disgraceful; despicable, shameful.
- Of a person: delighted by scandal.
- Of speech or writing: defamatory, malicious.
- Exceeding reasonable limits; outrageous.
- Of a person: guilty of extremely disgraceful conduct or some misconduct; infamous; also, unfit for their office or position due to misconduct, etc.
- Of information, a statement, etc.: not pertinent to a matter; irrelevant, and bringing the court into disrepute.
- Causing offence or trouble.
- Of a disease or symptom: putrid, rotting.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
From Late Middle English scandalouse (“disgraceful, shameful”), borrowed from Old French scandaleux (“scandalous”) (modern French scandaleux), from Medieval Latin scandalōsus, from Ecclesiastical Latin scandalum (“scandal”) + Latin -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; prone to’ forming adjectives). Scandalum is derived from Ancient Greek σκᾰ́νδᾰλον (skắndălon, “offence, scandal; snare, trap”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Pre-Greek or Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to jump”) (referring to a device for climbing or jumping on, such as might be used by someone setting a trap). By surface analysis, scandal + -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, denoting presence of a quality in any degree (typically an abundance), or a relation to the nouns).