scrupulous

[skroo-pyuh-luhs]

adjective

1. having scruples, or moral or ethical standards; having or showing a strict regard for what one considers right; principled.

   scrupulous about defending human rights.

   Synonyms: ethical, moral, upright, honest, conscientious

2. punctiliously or minutely careful, precise, or exact.

   a scrupulous attention to detail in their performance.

   Synonyms: rigorous, exacting, circumspect, cautious, thorough, meticulous, careful
   Antonyms: careless

scrupulous

/ ˈskruːpjʊləs /

adjective

1. characterized by careful observation of what is morally right

2. very careful or precise

Other Word Forms

• scrupulosity noun
• scrupulousness noun
• scrupulously adverb
• hyperscrupulosity noun
• hyperscrupulous adjective
• hyperscrupulousness noun
• underscrupulous adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of scrupulous¹

First recorded in 1400–50; a late Middle English word from Latin scrūpulōsus; scruple, -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of scrupulous¹

C15: from Latin scrūpulōsus punctilious

Synonym Study

Scrupulous, punctilious imply abiding exactly by rules. Scrupulous implies conscientious carefulness in attending to details: scrupulous attention to details. Punctilious suggests strictness, preciseness, and rigidity, especially in observance of social conventions.

Example Sentences

He meticulously painted beer mugs, pipes, matches, newspapers and other everyday objects, paying scrupulous attention to texture.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Growers use blackout curtains to trick the plants into coloring earlier in the fall, but Kobayashi said they have to be scrupulous about keeping the greenhouses completely dark.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Damar's indignation about his eviction even comes with a scrupulous caveat: "I'm not angry at the tourists. I'm just angry at my own government."

Read more on BBC

Not as someone with a shred of sympathy, or as a dogged and scrupulous seeker of truth and justice.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Riefenstahl,” Andres Veiel’s scrupulous, powerful documentary about the documentarian’s efforts to rehabilitate her image and art — a biography folded into an investigation — amounts to one big “not so fast” of a response.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• conscientious 
• fastidious 
• fussy 
• honest 
• meticulous 
• painstaking 
• precise 
• rigorous 
• strict