scrutinize
Americanverb (used with object)
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scrutinizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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scrutinized,
past participle, past
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scrutinizing
present participle
verb (used without object)
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scrutinizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
scrutinized,
past participle, past
-
scrutinizing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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scrutinizationnoun
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scrutinizernoun
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rescrutinizeverb (used with object)
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self-scrutinizedadjective
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self-scrutinizingadjective
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unscrutinizedadjective
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unscrutinizingadjective
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scrutinizinglyadverb
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unscrutinizinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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scrutinizesimple
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scrutinizessimple
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have scrutinizedperfect
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has scrutinizedperfect
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am scrutinizingprogressive
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are scrutinizingprogressive
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is scrutinizingprogressive
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have been scrutinizingperfect progressive
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has been scrutinizingperfect progressive
Past
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scrutinizedsimple
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had scrutinizedperfect
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was scrutinizingprogressive
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were scrutinizingprogressive
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had been scrutinizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scrutinize
First recorded in 1665–75; scrutin(y) + -ize
Explanation
If you want to examine something closely and go over every single detail, then you should scrutinize it. Like the way your mom probably assesses your outfit before you leave the house for school. Scrutinizing is very different from glancing or gazing. It's even more than a long, hard look. To scrutinize something, you have to look at it really critically, investigating every nook and cranny. Often things are scrutinized to verify if they're correct or authentic. So it makes perfect sense that this verb is rooted in the Latin word scrutari, which means “to search.”
Vocabulary lists containing scrutinize
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He also endorsed the use of independent evaluators to scrutinize AI systems, saying Meta Superintelligence Labs, his company's AI division, already relies on outside reviewers.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
In a letter sent this month, Burchett noted that he wanted to scrutinize how homelessness has gotten worse during her tenure as mayor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
Ask people to scrutinize food companies, labels and regulatory assumptions, and eventually they will scrutinize the regulators, too.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
She said investigators would scrutinize tower staffing following the LaGuardia crash.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
He brought his head back up to scrutinize me.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
The probe is the first into a Chinese deal under the EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation, which scrutinizes non-EU government support.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
Meanwhile, an explosion of popular literature scrutinizes those rules and places white people’s elevated status in sharp relief.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2025
Now, she is moving again—this time into the House of Lords, the United Kingdom’s unelected upper legislative chamber that scrutinizes, amends, and approves proposed legislation.
From Science Magazine ● May 10, 2024
In a shady alley, he lifts the tops of two water tanks, gets a flashlight and scrutinizes the surface for any sign of mosquito larvae.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 2, 2024
Square by square, she searches the night skies for adversaries then scrutinizes the ocean, which is roiling with nine straight days of unseasonable April rains.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
While that is accurate, statements like this make the conflict seem normal and perhaps unavoidable, rather than the result of a linked set of decisions that might themselves be scrutinized.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
Harris’ level of security has previously been scrutinized.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
Meanwhile, Kalshi competitor Polymarket is being scrutinized for offering bets on disasters such as wildfires.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
It is now the central bank’s most scrutinized communication, and Warsh has been one of its chief critics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
She peered at him in the same way she’d scrutinized the glass caps.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
The measure would also bring drones under the arms restriction regime and increase the number of experts scrutinizing the existing embargo.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
The New York City Council is scrutinizing prediction-market marketing as it eyes new regulations for the booming business, Kevin T. Dugan and Katherine Long write for the Journal this morning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
The food-safety scare has arrived as chains throw more discounts at consumers who are scrutinizing their budgets more carefully due to higher costs of living.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
“Believe me, we are really scrutinizing the emergence of second-round effects, but we are not seeing it,” she told a news conference.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
The women argue back, scrutinizing something about one of the worlds for the Warcross championships.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
