scruple

American  

[skroo-puhl] / ˈskru pəl /

noun

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

   Synonyms:

   restraint, compunction, qualm

2. a very small portion or amount.

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

4. an ancient Roman unit of weight equivalent to 1/24 of an ounce or 1/288 of an as or pound.

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verb (used without object)

scrupled, scrupling

1. to have scruples.

verb (used with object)

scrupled, scrupling

1. to have scruples about; hesitate at.

   Synonyms:

   waver

scruple British  

/ ˈskruːpəl /

noun

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

2. archaic a very small amount

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

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

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verb

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

Other Word Forms

• overscruple
  verb
• scrupleless
  adjective
• unscrupled
  adjective

Etymology

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. gram ¹)

Explanation

Your scruples are what keep you from doing things you consider to be morally or ethically wrong. Your scruples won't allow you to cheat on a test, or steal from your brother's Halloween candy stash. The noun scruple comes from a Latin word, scrupulus, which means a small, sharp stone. Some say that the philosopher Cicero first used the word analogously to compare a worry to a small, sharp stone in your shoe that bothers you. From there the word scruple took on the ethical principles meaning. If you are doing something bad, your scruples will bother you — but emptying your shoe probably won't help.

Example Sentences

The idea that Saddam would scruple to support al Qaeda seems preposterous even now.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 19, 2025

They were both these outsiders from the boroughs with tremendous life force and ambition with a shared, I think, lack of scruple or ethical core, for whom winning was the only moral measure.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2024

In the chaotic tangle of dust, horseflesh and steel, finding an unexpected advantage was not difficult for those unyoked from scruple.

From Salon • Aug. 10, 2024

The pontiff lamented the “poverty into which they are often forced, victims of injustice and the inequality of a throwaway society that hurries past without seeing them and without scruple abandons them to their fate.”

From Seattle Times • Nov. 14, 2021

In manner he was cold and imperious, and he was without scruple in the furtherance of his ambitions.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson