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

Any new take—say, the “My Brilliant Career” freshly arriving on Netflix—will likely suffer rigorous scrutiny, fairly or not.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Presidents rightly expect more security than the rest of us, but that typically comes with greater scrutiny of their locations and activities too.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

The plane swap prompted renewed scrutiny of the Qatar-gifted jet, which the Times reported did not have the same security features as the older jet, including anti-missile defenses.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

The "past" Flick may have been referring to includes a number of high-profile moments in which Araujo's mistakes came under intense scrutiny.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

Once again Mary Anne crossed the room under the careful scrutiny of her mother’s gaze.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

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

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

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

He pushed his scrutinies into the heart of man; erected his tribunal in the region of his thoughts, and purified the waters at the fountain head.

From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 3 by Thomas Jefferson Randolph

That single grasp, not unfrequently, undid all the better impressions of a whole evening consumed in these unworthy scrutinies.

From Confession, or, the Blind Heart; a Domestic Story by William Gilmore Simms

Related Words

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