scrutiny

American  

[skroot-n-ee] / ˈskrut n i /

noun

• scrutinies
  plural

1. 

   a searching examination or investigation; minute inquiry.

2. surveillance; close and continuous watching or guarding.

3. a close and searching look.

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scrutiny British  

/ ˈskruːtɪnɪ /

noun

1. close or minute examination

2. a searching look

3. 1. (in the early Christian Church) a formal testing that catechumens had to undergo before being baptized

   2. a similar examination of candidates for holy orders

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Synonym Usage

See examination.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonscrutiny
  noun
• rescrutiny
  noun
• self-scrutiny
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• scrutinies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of scrutiny

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin scrūtinium “a search, inquiry, investigation,” derivative of scrūtārī “to search thoroughly”

Explanation

Scrutiny is when you look at something really closely, like when you are checking a test for mistakes. Scrutiny can also be an intense look, like when your mother looks at you — trying to tell if you might be lying. Scrutiny comes from the Latin scrutari, which means “to search,” but which originally meant, “to sort trash.” When you turn in a draft of your essay, you are subjecting it to your teacher's scrutiny — and there's a good chance that she'll find some sentences that can be "trashed" as well as sections that could be improved.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scrutiny scrutinies

The talks come during a period in which Merz's own political future has come under intense scrutiny.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

In August, ChatGPT became the first AI chatbot added to the EU's list of digital services subject to greater legal scrutiny under its online content rules.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

While scrutiny on the port sector’s pricing power has increased, Forsyth Barr see scope for Napier Port to continue to use pricing to drive improvements in its return on invested capital.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

"If you offered most entrepreneurs a choice between a grant, with significant paperwork, milestone payments and continuous scrutiny, or a paying customer, I suspect they would always choose the customer," he says.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

“Don’t you see?” he demanded, losing patience with their suspicion and scrutiny and the unacceptable absence of celebration.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

In the late 1920s, his close analysis of a Shakespeare sonnet impressed Critic William Empson and led, indirectly, to the textual scrutinies of the New Criticism of the 1940s and '50s.

From Time Magazine Archive

Tellingly, Maritain notes what too many U.S. literary critics have ignored: that "American literature, in its most objective scrutinies, has been preoccupied with the beyond and the nameless which haunt our blood."

From Time Magazine Archive

The long probation called “abstinence” which led up to it is a survival of the primitive catechumenate with its scrutinies.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5 "Cat" to "Celt" by Various

There was no place permanently established for the purpose, but removable wooden cells were installed in the various apartments of the palace, grouped around the Sistine chapel, in which the scrutinies took place.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 7 "Columbus" to "Condottiere" by Various

Thrice every year are held scrutinies into life and conduct, at which the hateful practice of secret denunciation is admitted, and the accused is forbidden to call for the name of his accuser.

From Oxford and Her Colleges by Goldwin Smith

Related Words

• analysis
• audit
• inquiry
• inspection
• investigation
• review
• search
• surveillance