a novel (1850) by the US writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. The story is about Puritans in 17th-century New England. Hester Prynne is found guilty of adultery (= having sex with a person who is not her husband) and is made to wear a scarlet (= red) letter A on her dress. There have been three film versions, including one in 1995 with Demi Moore as Hester.