Synonyms

scrutinize

American

[skroot-n-ahyz] / ˈskrut nˌaɪz /

especially British, scrutinise

verb (used with object)

to examine in detail with careful or critical attention.

Synonyms:

search, study, investigate

verb (used without object)

to conduct a scrutiny.

Synonyms:

search, study, investigate

scrutinize British

/ ˈskruːtɪˌnaɪz /

verb

(tr) to examine carefully or in minute detail

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

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.”

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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:

scrutinize scrutinizes scrutinized scrutinizing

He said the district also must scrutinize its own spending, including ensuring “major construction and capital projects are completed responsibly.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Mortgage lenders might scrutinize down-payment gifts to make sure the giver doesn’t expect to receive the money back.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

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

I scrutinize him, watching for chinks, but the new August persists.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

Golden Corral scrutinizes buffet waste, marries costly shrimp with cheaper hush puppies and mines data to make money off bottomless offerings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

Bass said her review would be a top-down evaluation that also scrutinizes the roles of dispatchers, supervisors and others involved in responding to reports of people behaving erratically.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

After the exam, an analyst scrutinizes the results and decides whether or not they indicate deception or are inconclusive.

From Salon ● Nov. 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

The smith scrutinizes my face, his brow furrowed as if he’s considering something, making a decision.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir

Those measures will be closely scrutinized by activists and protesters alike.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

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

They scrutinized the sonogram Owens sent to Echard and detected signs of photoshopping.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

The financial manipulations that undergirded their fortunes get scrutinized as theft from the public purse, praise for their courage and perspicacity yields to condemnation for their conduct.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026

The old man scrutinized Mo's face until he turned his head away and looked out of the narrow kitchen window.

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke

But unlike the show it’s scrutinizing, “Primetime” lets its prey walk free.

From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026

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

Both the pandemic and several waves of corporate layoffs since mean that many more people look like job hoppers these days—and that employers are scrutinizing their job history, recruiters say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 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

“That is a better face than the other one,” she says, scrutinizing his appearance through mist and smoke.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023