A scandal is a widely publicized allegation or set of allegations that damages (or tries to damage) the reputation of an institution, individual or creed. A scandal may be based on true or false allegations or a mixture of both.
From the Greek σκάνδαλον (skandalon), a trap or stumbling-block, the metaphor is that wrong conduct can impede or "trip" people's trust or faith.
Some scandals are broken by whistleblowers who reveal wrongdoing within organizations or groups, such as Deep Throat (William Mark Felt) during the 1970s Watergate scandal. Sometimes an attempt to cover up a possible scandal ignites a greater scandal when the cover-up fails.
Read more about Scandal: Western World, Old Bibles, List of Scandals
Famous quotes containing the word scandal:
“Certain it is that scandal is good brisk talk, whereas praise of one’s neighbour is by no means lively hearing. An acquaintance grilled, scored, devilled, and served with mustard and cayenne pepper excites the appetite; whereas a slice of cold friend with currant jelly is but a sickly, unrelishing meat.”
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863)
“There is no scandal like rags, nor any crime so shameful as poverty.”
—George Farquhar (1678–1707)
“The day the world ends, no one will be there, just as no one was there when it began. This is a scandal. Such a scandal for the human race that it is indeed capable collectively, out of spite, of hastening the end of the world by all means just so it can enjoy the show.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)