scarlet letter

Definition

The letter "A" in scarlet cloth required to be worn by those convicted of adultery in 17th-century Puritan New England.

Example Sentences

• "The Scarlet Letter [title]"
• "In the early seventeenth century, all the colonies of New England enacted harsh laws against unchastity: banishment, imprisonment, severe public flogging, the wearing of scarlet letters and other shaming garments for the rest of one's life."
• "The scarlet letters that current discourse has slapped upon people deemed “problematic,” deemed “unreachable” for feminism, have created consternation […]"