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

Going to trial would have exposed TikTok to unprecedented public scrutiny of how it handles safety internally, with company documents and executive testimony potentially aired in open court.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

Going to trial could expose TikTok to unprecedented public scrutiny of how it handles safety internally, with company documents and executive testimony potentially aired in open court.

From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026

But this mix-up theory was dismissed as no-one next to Ethel was due to receive it during the time frame under scrutiny.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

There’s been intense scrutiny on the holdout, who was accused by the jury foreperson of refusing to follow the law around reasonable doubt.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

And only upon closer scrutiny does he notice that they are accompanied by locks of hair.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

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

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

They were to watch over each other's lives, and hold annual scrutinies into conduct.

From Oxford and Her Colleges by Goldwin Smith

At the periodical scrutinies, when the conduct of all the members of the College is to be examined, accusations can be brought against him and duly investigated.

From Life in the Medieval University by Robert S. Rait

Related Words

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