scrutiny

American  

[skroot-n-ee] / ˈskrut n i /

noun

• scrutinies
  plural

1. a searching examination or investigation; minute inquiry.

2. surveillance; close and continuous watching or guarding.

3. a close and searching look.

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scrutiny British  

/ ˈskruːtɪnɪ /

noun

1. close or minute examination

2. a searching look

3. 1. (in the early Christian Church) a formal testing that catechumens had to undergo before being baptized

   2. a similar examination of candidates for holy orders

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Synonym Usage

See examination.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonscrutiny
  noun
• rescrutiny
  noun
• self-scrutiny
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• scrutinies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of scrutiny

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin scrūtinium “a search, inquiry, investigation,” derivative of scrūtārī “to search thoroughly”

Explanation

Scrutiny is when you look at something really closely, like when you are checking a test for mistakes. Scrutiny can also be an intense look, like when your mother looks at you — trying to tell if you might be lying. Scrutiny comes from the Latin scrutari, which means “to search,” but which originally meant, “to sort trash.” When you turn in a draft of your essay, you are subjecting it to your teacher's scrutiny — and there's a good chance that she'll find some sentences that can be "trashed" as well as sections that could be improved.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scrutiny scrutinies

But the originality of Arday’s dissertation and his other academic work was also coming under scrutiny, leading to multiple allegations of plagiarism.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026

Savinho's time with City's ownership group has not been without scrutiny.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

But ABC’s decision to switch stations in St. Louis next month is getting scrutiny from Federal Communications Chairman Brendan Carr, who is already engaged in multiple legal battles with the Disney-owned network.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Which tells you how much scrutiny they wanted.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

Geyer would have agreed, except that his own search had revealed again and again Holmes’s talent for deflecting scrutiny.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

In the late 1920s, his close analysis of a Shakespeare sonnet impressed Critic William Empson and led, indirectly, to the textual scrutinies of the New Criticism of the 1940s and '50s.

From Time Magazine Archive

Tellingly, Maritain notes what too many U.S. literary critics have ignored: that "American literature, in its most objective scrutinies, has been preoccupied with the beyond and the nameless which haunt our blood."

From Time Magazine Archive

That single grasp, not unfrequently, undid all the better impressions of a whole evening consumed in these unworthy scrutinies.

From Confession, or, the Blind Heart; a Domestic Story by William Gilmore Simms

The Pope, who was appealed to, expressed his regret, but declined to put any pressure on the reluctant abbot: two more scrutinies followed, and finally Abbot von Stotzingen, of Maria-laach, was elected by seventy-five votes.

From A New Medley of Memories by David Hunter-Blair

The Scottish banking system underwent the severest of all scrutinies before committees of the Houses of Peers and of the Commons; and the following was the nature of the reports.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 350, December 1844 by Various

Related Words

• analysis
• audit
• inquiry
• inspection
• investigation
• review
• search
• surveillance