What does watergate mean?
Watergate denotes the political scandal that grew out of the 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., along with investigations, cover-up efforts, and legal proceedings that followed. The scandal implicated senior officials in the Nixon administration and culminated in the first resignation of a US president when Richard Nixon stepped down in 1974. Today, the word is also used by extension for any political scandal characterized by corruption, obstruction, secret activity, or a systematic attempt to mislead the public. Such comparisons are usually strongly negative and can imply that a scandal is exceptionally serious or structurally similar to Watergate. The term remains culturally powerful because Watergate reshaped American politics, journalism, and public distrust of government, while also becoming a standard historical analogy for political wrongdoing.
nounThe Watergate scandal, a major US political scandal that began with a 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. By extension, the word can refer to any similar political scandal involving corruption, obstruction, or an attempted cover-up.
- The Watergate scandal of the 1970s, which involved an attempt to cover up a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters.
- By extension, any political scandal regarded as resembling Watergate, especially one involving corruption, secret government activity, or obstruction of justice.
"The newspaper compared the mayor's attempted cover-up to Watergate."
"The Watergate scandal brought down President Richard Nixon."
"Journalists treated the inquiry as a new Watergate, though the allegations were later disputed."
The historical scandal is normally referred to in the singular. The plural is chiefly used when Watergate serves as a generic term for multiple comparable political scandals.
"The magazine compared several contemporary corruption cases to earlier Watergates."
The Watergate burglary exposed evidence that led to the first US presidential resignation.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of watergate
The name comes from the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., which took its name from the nearby Virginia community of Watergate. The modern political sense developed from the scandal that followed the 1972 break-in there. English water and gate are the transparent components of the name, and related formations such as waterway and gateway preserve combinations of the same lexical elements.
Related word forms
How watergate is actually used
The name is normally capitalized when referring to the historical scandal and its associated events. In extended generic use, writers sometimes capitalize it as well to emphasize the analogy with the original scandal.