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scruple
[ skroo-puhl ]
noun
- a moral or ethical consideration or standard that acts as a restraining force or inhibits certain actions.
Synonyms: restraint, compunction, qualm
- 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 as 2( def 2 ).
verb (used without object)
- to have scruples.
verb (used with object)
- to have scruples about; hesitate at.
Synonyms: waver
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 Forms
- ˈscrupleless, adjective
Other Words From
- scruple·less adjective
- over·scruple verb overscrupled overscrupling
- un·scrupled adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of scruple1
Word History and Origins
Origin of scruple1
Example Sentences
Kane is an incredibly wealthy man, a newspaper baron with few scruples about journalism who attains immense power, only to see it start to fade near the end of his life.
It wasn't any scruple of mercy, for Hicks was as cold-blooded a brute as ever glanced down a gun-barrel.
Here, you,” he growled, “was aught said to thee whereby thou hast a scruple to tell me how many guns defend the Cashmere Gate?
If he sometimes come across a precept which is perfectly clear and irrefutable, Donald does not scruple to ignore it.
Little Larkins had told all, and his father had no scruple in repeating it, and causing the investigation to be set on foot.
He appropriated it without scruple, and was soon joined by a troop of travelers bound for Marhala.
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