1
as in disgusting
causing intense displeasure, disgust, or resentment
the scandalous news that police officers had been taking bribes
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in erroneous
causing or intended to cause unjust injury to a person's good name
spread a scandalous rumor about a coworker that almost cost him his job
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Recent Examples of scandalous
Rickman played Colonel Brandon, the quiet, honorable, older man who falls in love with one of the Dashwood daughters, Marianne (Kate Winslet), competing for her heart against the secretly scandalous John Willoughby (Greg Wise).
—
Sydney Bucksbaum, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Jan. 2026
The Juniper Tree’s protagonist carries on in the face of maternal abuse, a scandalous out-of-wedlock pregnancy, and a series of calamitous events that expose the dark underside of domesticity.
—Sara Krolewski, The Atlantic, 4 Jan. 2026
Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial novel about a middle-age literature professor, Humbert Humbert (James Mason), who falls in love with an underage girl was scandalous in its day, too.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2025
From jeans to royal evictions and a trip to space, here are the most scandalous moments in the calendar year.
—Sarah Sotoodeh, FOXNews.com, 30 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scandalous
Sydney Bucksbaum, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Jan. 2026
The Juniper Tree’s protagonist carries on in the face of maternal abuse, a scandalous out-of-wedlock pregnancy, and a series of calamitous events that expose the dark underside of domesticity.
—Sara Krolewski, The Atlantic, 4 Jan. 2026
Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial novel about a middle-age literature professor, Humbert Humbert (James Mason), who falls in love with an underage girl was scandalous in its day, too.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2025
From jeans to royal evictions and a trip to space, here are the most scandalous moments in the calendar year.
—Sarah Sotoodeh, FOXNews.com, 30 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scandalous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scandalous
Adjective
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The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting.—
WCCO Staff,
CBS News,
24 Jan. 2026
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Regardless, the effects are both disgusting and well-executed.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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That’s an extra $1,780 or so purely because the IRS concluded the erroneous position was intentional rather than mistaken.—
Kelly Phillips Erb,
Forbes.com,
26 Jan. 2026
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How to opt out Incorporating AI directly into Gmail could pose risks for Google, given that large language models can sometimes present erroneous or misleading information.—
Julia Doyle,
CBS News,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The duo first split in 2024 and confirmed the news in February 2025, before things took a dramatically ugly turn.—
Joseph Wilkinson,
Mercury News,
23 Jan. 2026
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The Nets had already been through ugly this season.—
C.J. Holmes,
New York Daily News,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
In recent weeks, though, her group has doubled in size, and while in the past there were only two or three posts per day, Mitchell and her new moderators now have to wade through 60-plus comments ranging from helpful to libelous.—
Brenna Ehrlich,
Rolling Stone,
25 Apr. 2025
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And in this age of clickbait journalism, even those members of the legacy media have resorted to libelous headlines and false reports to generate views.—
Zach Schonfeld,
The Hill,
24 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Jin Shin has come across some monster potholes over the last couple of weeks, including one in Koreatown that rattled his car with a sickening thump and another near the airport where its depth was obscured by water.—
Alex Wigglesworth,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Jan. 2026
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Oil is a 20th century energy source, outmoded and responsible for sickening and killing millions of people with the potential to kill millions more.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
11 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Doncic had 33 points and 11 assists, and the Lakers erased a 15-point deficit in the final seven minutes of a 116-110 victory over the Mavericks on Saturday night in the star guard’s second visit to Dallas since his shocking trade to the Lakers almost a calendar year ago.—
Oc Register,
Oc Register,
25 Jan. 2026
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The relentless flow of appalling events eventually overloads the nervous system; the rising tide of brutality, which once seemed shocking, comes to seem unremarkable.—
David Brooks,
Mercury News,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Responses can be incorrect, activations trigger the wrong content, and the voice recognition features are often inoperable.—
Sarah Scott,
Parents,
22 Jan. 2026
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In many cases, the issue is something simple, like an incorrect address or a piece of mail that went astray.—
Kelly Phillips Erb,
Forbes.com,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Are there horrible smells wafting around?—
Clio Chang,
Curbed,
7 Jan. 2026
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Jimmy Kimmel was horrible, and some of these people.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
6 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Scandalous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scandalous. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
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