What does "scruple" mean?
Hesitation to act from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; doubt, hesitation or unwillingness due to motives of conscience; moral qualm.
Scruple
/ˈskɹuːpəl/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Hesitation to act from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; doubt, hesitation or unwillingness due to motives of conscience; moral qualm.
- Grammar: scruple is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: qualm, ace, apprehension, atom.
- Useful contrasts: approve, boldness, consent.
- Usage evidence: I had a slight scruple about doing that kind of thing.
How to use "scruple"
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Meaning check
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Source and review context
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Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
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Check whether "scruple" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
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Final meaning check
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 Hesitation to act from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; doubt, hesitation or unwillingness due to motives of conscience; moral qualm.
"Before her flew Affliction, girt in ſtorms, / Gaſht all with guſhing wounds; and all the formes / Of bane, and miſerie, frowning in her face; / Whom Tyrannie, and Iniuſtice, had in Chace; / Grimme Perſecution, Pouertie, and Shame; / Detraction, Enuie, foule Mishap and lame; / Scruple of Conſcience; Feare, Deceipt, Deſpaire; / Slaunder, and Clamor, that rent all the Ayre; […]"
- 2 an ethical or moral principle that inhibits action wordnet
- 3 A weight of ¹⁄₂₈₈ of a pound, that is, twenty grains or one third of a dram, about 1.3 grams (symbol: ℈).
"The Oyle ſerueth in many operations, and ſpecially in all colde diſeaſes, if they be inwardly, give thereof euerye morning one ſcruple to drinke, and if they be outward annoynt."
- 4 uneasiness about the fitness of an action (particularly for reasons of ethics, morals or propriety) wordnet
- 5 A Hebrew unit of time equal to ¹⁄₁₀₈₀ hour.
"If it be ask'd why the Jews divide the Hour into 1080 Scruples, the Author of the Neomeniæ ſet forth by Munſter gives this reaſon fo it, becauſe there is no number that is diviſible into ſo many ſorts as this of 1080 is; for it may be divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, &c."
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- 6 a unit of apothecary weight equal to 20 grains wordnet
- 7 A very small quantity; a particle. broadly, obsolete
"Why euery thing adheres togither, that no dramme of a ſcruple, no ſcruple of a ſcruple, no obſtacle, no incredulous or unſafe circumſtance: What can be ſaide? Nothing that can be, can come betweene me, and the full proſpect of my hopes."
- 8 A doubt or uncertainty concerning a matter of fact; intellectual perplexity. obsolete
"There aroſe a Scruple, nay, it amount to a Queſtion, whether to attempt an Eſcape from my Patron, one that ſo dearly Loved me, ſo fairly bought me, were juſtifiable before God and Men?"
Verb
- 1 To hesitate or be reluctant to act due to considerations of conscience or expedience. intransitive
"They wouldn't scruple to cheat us if given the opportunity."
- 2 have doubts about wordnet
- 3 To excite scruples in; to cause to scruple. intransitive
"It is granted indeed before that time, the Supream power was in Him [Charles I of England], and we were all his Subjects: and then perhaps ſome might Scruple to cut his throat, for there were lawes then in force against Regicides, but now ſince his Reſignation, (for ſo in our Tenents we hold this Act to be,) there is no ſcruple to be made, thoſe lawes against King-killers are ſuſpended, and he is now become as Samſon was without his ſtrength, […]"
- 4 raise scruples wordnet
- 5 To regard with suspicion; to question. transitive
"As for the writings of Heathen authors, unleſſe they were plaine invectives againſt Chriſtianity, as thoſe of Porphyrius and Proclus, they met with no interdict that can be cited, till about the year 400, in a Carthaginian Councel, wherein Biſhops themſelves were forbid to read the Books of Gentiles, but Hereſies they might read: while others long before them on the contrary ſcrupl'd more the Books of Hereticks, then of Gentiles."
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- 6 hesitate on moral grounds wordnet
- 7 To question the truth of (a fact, etc.); to doubt; to hesitate to believe, to question. intransitive, obsolete
"I do not scruple to admit that all the Earth seeth but only half of the Moon."
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"I had a slight scruple about doing that kind of thing."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "scruple"?
Common synonyms include: qualm, ace, apprehension, atom, awake a doubt, back down.
How do you use "scruple" in a sentence?
I had a slight scruple about doing that kind of thing.
How do you pronounce "scruple"?
Pronounced /ˈskɹuːpəl/.
Etymology
From Old French scrupule, from Latin scrūpulus (“(literally) a small sharp or pointed stone; uneasiness of mind, anxiety, doubt, trouble; scruple”) and scrūpulum (“one twenty-fourth of an ounce”), diminutives of scrūpus (“a rough or sharp stone; anxiety, uneasiness”); perhaps akin to Ancient Greek σκύρος (skúros, “the chippings of stone”), from ξυρόν (xurón, “razor”), from ξύω (xúō, “to scrape”), from Proto-Indo-European *ksew-. Doublet of escropulo and escrupulo.