Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Deserving or causing disgrace, shame, or public disapproval: Used to describe conduct, behavior, or situations that are considered morally wrong, shocking, or dishonorable, and that damage someone's reputation.
   • Offensive to moral sensibilities and injurious to reputation: Describing something that is scandalous or causes outrage due to its violation of accepted standards of decency.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • The minister's disgraceful conduct forced him to resign.
  • It is disgraceful that the company dumped toxic waste into the river.
  • The team's performance was a disgraceful display of poor sportsmanship.

Advanced Usage

• "disgraceful state of affairs": A situation that is shockingly bad or unacceptable.
  • The lack of clean water in the city is a disgraceful state of affairs.
• "nothing short of disgraceful": An emphatic way to say something is completely and utterly disgraceful.
  • The treatment of the refugees was nothing short of disgraceful.

Variants and Related Words

• Disgrace (noun/verb): The loss of respect or honor; to bring shame or discredit upon.
  • He brought disgrace upon his family.
  • The scandal disgraced the entire institution.
• Disgracefully (adverb): In a disgraceful manner.
  • The funds were disgracefully mismanaged.

Synonyms

• Shameful: Deserving or causing shame.
• Ignominious: Deserving or causing public disgrace or shame.
• Scandalous: Causing general public outrage by a perceived offense against morality or law.
• Opprobrious: Expressing scorn or criticism; disgraceful.

Antonyms

• Honorable: Deserving honor and respect.
• Commendable: Deserving praise.
• Respectable: Regarded by society as good, proper, or correct.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• A disgraceful blot on one's record/character: A shameful event that permanently damages one's reputation.
  • The corruption scandal was a disgraceful blot on his political career.
• To be a disgrace to (someone/something): To act in a way that brings shame upon a person or group one is associated with.
  • His actions were a disgrace to the uniform he wore.

Adjective

1. (used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame
   • Man...has written one of his blackest records as a destroyer on the oceanic islands- Rachel Carson
   • an ignominious retreat
   • inglorious defeat
   • an opprobrious monument to human greed
   • a shameful display of cowardice
2. giving offense to moral sensibilities and injurious to reputation
   • scandalous behavior
   • the wicked rascally shameful conduct of the bankrupt- Thackeray
   • the most shocking book of its time