Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Disturbance; a cause of scandal; a scene.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun archaic infamy.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

French

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word esclandre.

Examples

  • An esclandre of that sort would kill her, I do believe.

    The History of Pendennis 2006

  • By the scene which you witnessed yesterday, my good young friend, and all that painful esclandre on the promenade, you must see how absurd, and dangerous, and wicked — yes, wicked it is for parents to allow intimacies to spring up between young people, which can only lead to disgrace and unhappiness.

    The Newcomes 2006

  • “Shall you tell Madame Beck what you have found, and cause a stir — an esclandre?”

    Villette 2003

  • I thought I ought to tell, and said so; adding that I did not believe there would be either stir or esclandre: Madame was much too prudent to make a noise about an affair of that sort connected with her establishment.

    Villette 2003

  • So strong is her determination to avoid an _esclandre_, and so masterly is her manner of carrying out her will, that both men instinctively obey her.

    Molly Bawn Margaret Wolfe Hamilton

  • Not that she made an _esclandre_ of any sort, but _one could see_!

    April's Lady A Novel Margaret Wolfe Hungerford

  • In a great city like Paris there might arise an occasion of escape from control at any moment, and Heaven alone knew what _esclandre_ might ensue upon a single escapade.

    Despair's Last Journey David Christie Murray

  • She had suffered from these snubs before, but had never had the chance of forcing an esclandre, as a result of her own humiliation.

    The Elusive Pimpernel Emmuska Orczy Orczy 1906

  • Well! all that was a lie, of course, a cunning method of gaining access into her house; of that she had already been convinced, when Candeille provoked the esclandre which led to the challenge.

    The Elusive Pimpernel Emmuska Orczy Orczy 1906

  • After conferring together for a few moments, Tristan and Kurvenal agree that it will be wiser to appease the irate beauty by yielding to her wishes, than to have an _esclandre_, and Tristan prepares to appear before her.

    Stories of the Wagner Opera 1894

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • A justice should be an upstander,

    A model of frankness and candor,

    And heaven forfend

    He need to defend

    ‘Gainst stories of drunken esclandre.

    October 4, 2018