scrutiny

American  

[skroot-n-ee] / ˈskrut n i /

noun

plural

scrutinies

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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Related Words

See examination.

Other Word Forms

• nonscrutiny noun
• rescrutiny noun
• self-scrutiny noun

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”

Example Sentences

While the company has invested growing sums of cash into AI, those ambitions have come under scrutiny.

From BBC

People who fabricate research or deceive the public deserve scrutiny.

From The Wall Street Journal

When AI spending faces ROI scrutiny, the entire compute supply chain responds.

From MarketWatch

Others say that invoking it under these conditions so deeply contradicts the act’s principles that it is unlikely to survive legal scrutiny.

From The Wall Street Journal

EDN’s website, with its elegantly art-directed photoshoots, is meant to appeal to discerning shoppers who want to apply the same scrutiny to their clothes as they do to the things they eat.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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