A visible symbol of something you have done wrong and regretted, or a stigma of a past mistake you made that follows you.
The Puritans required adulterers to wear a scarlet letter, the letter "A" (with a scarlet red color) on a necklace as a penance for their wrongdoing.
by jakk765 November 14, 2013

Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter,
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet.
- Taylor Swift, Love Story
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet.
- Taylor Swift, Love Story
by x1n December 20, 2010

a forbidden woman; someone with a shady past who is ostracized from the community.
From the book by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter.
From the book by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter.
by katerdidit December 2, 2008

A famous book written by Nathaniel Hawthorne that deals with Puritan beliefs. The main character is a woman named Hester who has a baby, is accused of adultry, and is forced to wear a red letter, "A" on her clothes, so everyone in the town knows she's a skank. Highschoolers are forced to read this book. Only God knows why. At first, the book seams alright. The plot seams interesting enough, because it deals with sex and suspence, but when you start reading it you have to keep your eyes open with clothes pins to avoid falling asleep. Also known as, the most overrated and dissapointing book of all time.
I thought that reading The Scarlet Letter would be interesting, but once I actually started reading the book it made me want to gauge my eyes out with a spork and smear my eyeball blood all over Nathaniel Hawthorne. What the hell was my english teacher smoking when he read this book and thought it was a masterpiece?
by fingersofsalad January 22, 2009

stigma related to the infamous incidents
For example, if you were caught to have a sex deal with a prostitute in China, your passport may be stamped with a seal of "lewd worm". This infamous seal is the "scarlet letter"
For example, if you were caught to have a sex deal with a prostitute in China, your passport may be stamped with a seal of "lewd worm". This infamous seal is the "scarlet letter"
by vanderpol August 1, 2010

An amazing novel of ideas that endures as a masterpiece of American literature, but one that is, apparently, pretty hard for some of us to understand or appreciate.
So I heard you're reading the Scarlet Letter for school? What do you think of Hawthorne's use of symbolism to expose the deficiencies of several 17th-century schools of thought?
LOLZ the scarrlet leterr iz so gai
LOLZ the scarrlet leterr iz so gai
by buwers December 2, 2010

by alina is freaking amazing October 15, 2007
