scruple
Americannoun
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a moral or ethical consideration or standard that acts as a restraining force or inhibits certain actions.
- Synonyms:
- restraint, compunction, qualm
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a very small portion or amount.
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a unit of weight equal to 20 grains (1.295 grams) or 1/3 of a dram, apothecaries' weight.
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an ancient Roman unit of weight equivalent to 1/24 of an ounce or 1/288 of an as or pound.
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
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(often plural) a doubt or hesitation as to what is morally right in a certain situation
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archaic a very small amount
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a unit of weight equal to 20 grains (1.296 grams)
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an ancient Roman unit of weight equivalent to approximately one twenty-fourth of an ounce
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
has scrupledperfect 3rd person singular
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have scrupledperfect
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am scruplingprogressive 1st person singular
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have been scruplingperfect progressive
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are scruplingprogressive
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is scruplingprogressive 3rd person singular
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has been scruplingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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scruplessingular 3rd person
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scruplingparticiple
Past
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had scrupledperfect
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had been scruplingperfect progressive
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was scruplingprogressive singular
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were scruplingprogressive plural
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scrupledparticiple
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scrupledsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of scruple
1350–1400; (< French scrupule ) < Latin scrūpulus unit of weight, worry, precaution equivalent to scrūp ( us ) rough pebble + -ulus -ule; replacing earlier scriple, Middle English < Latin scrīpulum (variant scriptulum ) small weight, pebble, alteration of scrūpulus by association with scrīptum writing ( see script; for sense relation cf. gram 1)
Explanation
Your scruples are what keep you from doing things you consider to be morally or ethically wrong. Your scruples won't allow you to cheat on a test, or steal from your brother's Halloween candy stash. The noun scruple comes from a Latin word, scrupulus, which means a small, sharp stone. Some say that the philosopher Cicero first used the word analogously to compare a worry to a small, sharp stone in your shoe that bothers you. From there the word scruple took on the ethical principles meaning. If you are doing something bad, your scruples will bother you — but emptying your shoe probably won't help.
Vocabulary lists containing scruple
Grade 11, List 3
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The Scarlet Letter
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"The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was ordered a Scruple of the Powder of Ipecacoanha, which vomited him, and procured him a Stool.
From An Account of the Diseases which were most frequent in the British military hospitals in Germany by Monro, Donald
Scruple to accept of a Commission to act against the King of Spain, 258.Villeroy,
Scruple is one-handed when a sceptre is to be seized, and a eunuch when fortune is to be wedded.
From The Man Who Laughs by Hugo, Victor
I communicated my Mind to La Foret, and he join'd with me in persuading the others, who were so complaisant that they consented to our Proposal, without any Scruple.
From The Travels and Adventures of James Massey by Patot, Simon Tyssot de
Ah! then it shines attractive on the thought, Rises, with such resistless influence fraught As puts to flight pale Fear, and Scruple cold, Till Life, e'en Life itself, becomes less dear than Gold.
From Original sonnets on various subjects; and odes paraphrased from Horace by Seward, Anna
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
