scruple

[ skroo-puhl ]

/ ˈskru pəl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR scruple ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a moral or ethical consideration or standard that acts as a restraining force or inhibits certain actions.

a very small portion or amount.

a unit of weight equal to 20 grains (1.295 grams) or 1/3 of a dram, apothecaries' weight.

an ancient Roman unit of weight equivalent to 1/24 of an ounce or 1/288 of an as or pound.Compare as²(def 2).

verb (used without object), scru·pled, scru·pling.

to have scruples.

verb (used with object), scru·pled, scru·pling.

to have scruples about; hesitate at.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

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. gram¹)

SYNONYMS FOR scruple

1. qualm, compunction, restraint. 6. waver.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR scruple ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsscru·ple·less, adjectiveo·ver·scru·ple, verb, o·ver·scru·pled, o·ver·scru·pling.un·scru·pled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for scruple

So she did avail herself of his zeal,—and that without any scruple.
Doctor Thorne|Anthony Trollope
We burned foreign cloth without a scruple, and the spirituality of the movement did not receive a shock when we burned them.
Freedom Through Disobedience|C. R. (Chittaranjan) Das
Clearly these masses, and such as these, ought to be selected first for what I will not scruple to call interment.
On Books and the Housing of Them|William Ewart Gladstone
His mind was made up; there was nothing left of hesitation or scruple.
The Mermaid|Lily Dougall

Little Larkins had told all, and his father had no scruple in repeating it, and causing the investigation to be set on foot.
The Daisy Chain|Charlotte Yonge

British Dictionary definitions for scruple

scruple

/ (ˈskruːpəl) /

noun

(often plural) a doubt or hesitation as to what is morally right in a certain situation

archaic a very small amount

a unit of weight equal to 20 grains (1.296 grams)

an ancient Roman unit of weight equivalent to approximately one twenty-fourth of an ounce

verb

(obsolete when tr) to have doubts (about), esp for a moral reason

Derived Formsscrupleless, adjective

Word Origin for scruple

C16: from Latin scrūpulus a small weight, from scrūpus rough stone

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for scruple

scruple

"moral misgiving, pang of conscience," late 14c., from Old French scrupule (14c.), from Latin scrupulus "uneasiness, anxiety, pricking of conscience," literally "small sharp stone," diminutive of scrupus "sharp stone or pebble," used figuratively by Cicero for a cause of uneasiness or anxiety, probably from the notion of having a pebble in one's shoe. The word in the more literal Latin sense of "small unit of weight or measurement" is attested in English from late 14c.

scruple

"to have or make scruples," 1620s, from scruple (n.). Related: Scrupled; scrupling.

Medicine definitions for scruple

scruple

[ skrōō′pəl ]

n.

An uneasy feeling arising from conscience or principle that tends to hinder action.

A unit of apothecary weight that is equal to about 1.3 grams, or 20 grains.

A minute part or amount.