Shirtgate

S1H4I1R1T1G2A1T1E1

proper noun

A 2014 controversy in which a shirt worn by scientist Matt Taylor at an informal interview associated with the European Space Agency landing of a probe on a comet was branded sexist by some viewers on social media.

Scrabble 13
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Meanings

proper noun
  1. informalA 2014 controversy in which a shirt worn by scientist Matt Taylor at an informal interview associated with the European Space Agency landing of a probe on a comet was branded sexist by some viewers on social media.

    The backfiring of Shirtgate created a temporary pause in the Big Panic, and revealed a basic truth. Most people appeared to have no objection to the kinds of expression that were now being presented as sexist.

    2016, Jerry Barnett, Porn Panic!: Sex and Censorship in the UK

Origin

From shirt + -gate.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Shirtgate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Shirtgate

MLA

“Shirtgate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Shirtgate. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Shirtgate,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Shirtgate.

Source: Shirtgate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.