A scandal is a shocking event or revelation that damages someone's reputation and causes public outrage or gossip. When a scandal breaks, people are upset, surprised, or disappointed because someone they trusted or respected did something wrong, dishonest, or embarrassing.

Scandals often involve people in positions of authority or trust: politicians caught lying, business leaders stealing money, or celebrities behaving badly. The Watergate scandal in the 1970s involved President Nixon and his staff breaking the law and lying about it, which eventually led him to resign. In schools, a scandal might erupt if a teacher is discovered changing students' test scores or if an athlete is caught using performance-enhancing drugs.

What makes something a scandal is that people find out about wrongdoing and react strongly with shock and disapproval. The exposure and public reaction transform a private misdeed into a scandal. The word carries a sense of betrayal and shame. When we say someone's career was ruined by scandal, we mean that people lost respect for them because of what they did.

The word can also describe the outrage itself: people might express scandal at learning about corruption in their local government. Scandalous describes something shocking enough to cause a scandal, like scandalous behavior at a formal dinner.