scarlet letter
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Controversial newsmakers—Monica Lewinsky, Tonya Harding, Lorena Bobbitt among them—had the term pinioned to them like a scarlet letter, stripping away their accomplishments and leaving only scorned husks of their real selves.
From Salon ● Mar. 23, 2025
Listings in these neighborhoods carry a proverbial scarlet letter as Palm Springs becomes a city of rentable homes versus nonrentable homes.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 1, 2024
Yet Mia remains alienated, hanging awkwardly apart from her raucous, thrill-seeking friends, wearing her bereavement like a scarlet letter.
From New York Times ● Jul. 27, 2023
Energy consultant Gonzalo Monroy warned that the restructuring “would mark Mexico with a scarlet letter that says Mexico does not honor contracts, it changes the rules, it is arbitrary with inversions.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 16, 2022
Neither, by their report, had his dying words acknowledged, nor even remotely implied, any, the slightest connection, on his part, with the guilt for which Hester Prynne had so long worn the scarlet letter.
From The Scarlet Letter by Foote, Mary Hallock
