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.
I believe he lived with a scarlet letter on him because of it.
From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2025
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
“You should not have to wear this scarlet letter of sorts that prevents you from participating in our most basic concept of democracy,” said Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Democrat from Memphis.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 25, 2024
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
It was none the less a fact, however, that, in the eyes of the very men who spoke thus, the scarlet letter had the effect of the cross on a nun's bosom.
From The Scarlet Letter by Foote, Mary Hallock