Look up scandal in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A scandal is a widely publicized allegation or set of allegations that damages 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, a trap or stumbling-block.^[1] The metaphor is that wrong conduct can impede or "trip" people's trust or faith.^[2]

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.

[edit] Western world

In the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, scandals, particularly political ones, are often referred to by adding the suffix "-gate" to a word connected with the events, recalling the Watergate scandal, such as "Nannygate".

[edit] List of scandals

• Political scandals
• Academic scandals
• Sporting scandals
• Game show scandals
• Corporate scandals
• Journalistic scandals
• Olympic Games scandals
• Roman Catholic sex abuse cases
• List of Christian evangelist scandals
• List of scandals with "-gate" suffix
• Sex scandals

[edit] Footnotes