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)

• scruples,
  present (3rd person singular)
• scrupled,
  past participle,  past
• scrupling
  present participle

1. to have scruples.

verb (used with object)

• scruples,
  present (3rd person singular)
• scrupled,
  past participle,  past
• scrupling
  present participle

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

Derived Forms

• overscruple
  verb
• scrupleless
  adjective
• unscrupled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• scrupling
  present
• scrupled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• scruple
  simple
• scruples
  simple
• have scrupled
  perfect
• has scrupled
  perfect
• am scrupling
  progressive
• are scrupling
  progressive
• is scrupling
  progressive
• have been scrupling
  perfect progressive
• has been scrupling
  perfect progressive

Past

• scrupled
  simple
• had scrupled
  perfect
• was scrupling
  progressive
• were scrupling
  progressive
• had been scrupling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will scruple
  simple
• will have scrupled
  perfect
• will be scrupling
  progressive
• will have been scrupling
  perfect progressive

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

See Examples For:

scruple scruples scrupled scrupling

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 convention of courtroom journalism is to make a scruple of indeterminacy.

From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2022

And he surely would not scruple, even on that day, to be angry at the Lord.

From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin

Employees in these movies come to the conclusion their boss lacks scruples, boundaries or the qualifications to have the job.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 29, 2025

Theo has misgivings, but his passion for Wynona overrides his scruples.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2025

Some may have otherwise been stolen by Western visitors with less scruples to be sold on the lucrative European and American artefacts market.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2024

Executives at established tech giants might have their own honest scruples about where all of this is heading.

From Slate ● Nov. 27, 2023

When he was enraged by some human effort or flaw, he was able to regard himself as discriminating, fastidious, and full of nice scruples.

From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison

Though Antonin fashions himself as a tormented literary protagonist — a scrupled thief and a thwarted artist — he emerges as little more than a posturing, self-pitying millennial unwilling to take charge of his life.

From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2023

The extravagance and general profligacy which he scrupled not to lay at Mr. Wickham’s charge, exceedingly shocked her; the more so, as she could bring no proof of its injustice.

From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

Elizabeth grew restless under it, and Miss Sarah found out from gossiping people that Elizabeth had not scrupled to do what was little short of spying on Alec.

From The Heart's Country by Mary Heaton Vorse

Some instances had occurred in which this prohibition had been disregarded; and upon these occasions the over-zealous Protestants had not scrupled to take the law into their own hands.

From Life of Mary Queen of Scots, Volume I (of 2) by Henry Glassford Bell

Who asked a rent absurdly high; Who never scrupled at a lie?

From Punch, or the London Charivari, October 28th 1893 by Various

The idea of scrupling to hurt the sensibilities of Andrew Peak!

From Born in Exile by George Gissing

She therefore yielded wholly to her feelings, without scrupling in the least, or ever calling a Divan of the three confidantes of her heart, Reason, Prudence and Reflection, to deliberate on the business.

From Translations from the German (Vol 3 of 3) Tales by Musaeus, Tieck, Richter by Thomas Carlyle

Weary, and not scrupling to defile Bulika with my presence, I took advantage of the shelter, poor as it was.

From Lilith, a romance by George MacDonald

Her conscientious scrupling: "But mother may be cross!" had passed unheeded.

From Australia Felix by Henry Handel Richardson

Richard Baxter, in the seventeenth century, had said of confirmation that, so far from scrupling the true use of it, there was scarce any outward thing in the Church he valued more highly.

From The English Church in the Eighteenth Century by Charles J. (Charles John) Abbey