English Explanatory Dictionary

scruple

English dictionary entry

Meanings

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.
  2. A weight of ¹⁄₂₈₈ of a pound, that is, twenty grains or one third of a dram, about 1.3 grams (symbol: ℈).
  3. A Hebrew unit of time equal to ¹⁄₁₀₈₀ hour.
  4. A very small quantity; a particle.
  5. A doubt or uncertainty concerning a matter of fact; intellectual perplexity.
verb
  1. To hesitate or be reluctant to act due to considerations of conscience or expedience.
  2. To excite scruples in; to cause to scruple.
  3. To regard with suspicion; to question.
  4. To question the truth of (a fact, etc.); to doubt; to hesitate to believe, to question.

Pronunciation

/ˈskɹuːpəl/ /ˈskɹupəl/ En-us-scruple.ogg en-au-scruple.ogg

Word forms

scruple scruples scrupling scrupled

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.

Synonyms

s.ap. ace atom atomy aught bissel bit crumb glimpse dab damn dash diddly glint dot spatter drop dusting fleck glimmer hint flip flyspeck grain halfpennyworth inch iota jot lick mite modicum molecule morceau morsel mote ooch ounce particle pennyworth piece pinch relish scantling semblance scent scintilla scooch scrap scruple shred skerrick skoosh skosh sliver smattering smidge smidgen smidget smidgy smitch

Derived words

scrupleless scruple-shop scrupulosity scrupulous scrupulously scrupulousness unscrupulous unscrupulously unscrupulousness

Translations

Latin: scrupulus Polish: skrupuł Portuguese: escrópulo Spanish: escrúpulo
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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