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

“But now I have, like, a scarlet letter and the medical stuff so even if I could go to work, my face would be doing gymnastics.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2024

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

It is a permanent portrait of shame — the legal system’s scarlet letter.

From New York Times • Aug. 24, 2023

There was no scarlet letter with which these people could brand her as the guilty creature they believed her to be; but short of this, what could they not do to her?

From The Doctor's Wife by Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth)