1
as in shred
a very small amount
went about her business without even a scruple of suspicion
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2
as in speck
a very small piece
left just a scruple of asparagus on the plate
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as in doubt
an uneasy feeling about the rightness of what one is doing or going to do
the survey showed that many students had few scruples about cheating on papers or exams
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as in to hesitate
to show uncertainty about the right course of action
a tabloid journalist who has never scrupled to reveal the most intimate details about the lives of celebrities
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of scruple
Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 18 July 2024
Casey also seemed to have few scruples about doing what was needed to win.
—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2024
But when Jackson knocked on his door, Upham immediately put aside his scruples.
—Susanna Ashton, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Aug. 2024
Hilton, not exactly a figure known for journalistic scruples, felt that Enty’s standards on the blog frequently fell short.
—Lila Shapiro, Vulture, 24 Apr. 2024
Allen’s movies have often displayed an obsession with the nature of evil, a fascination with those who are able to do evil and go on living normally—whose powers of compartmentalization, rationalization, or simple self-righteousness are stronger than their scruples.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2024
Moral leadership, moral clarity and moral scruples are centerpieces of civilization, eclipsing economic statistics or military power.
—Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 9 Feb. 2024
However, his acquisitive wife, who had no such scruples, accepted in his stead, and this became the Summer White House.
—Martin Filler, The New York Review of Books, 9 Nov. 2023
By 2006, no one in Lebanon had any illusions about Israel’s attachment to disproportionality and determination to lash out at enemies with few scruples and considerable wrath.
—Hussein Ibish, The New Republic, 1 Nov. 2023
Noun
Randy Orton essentially played his cold robot doppelgänger, a fellow handsome main-eventer who lacked Cena’s scruples.
—Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 18 July 2024
Casey also seemed to have few scruples about doing what was needed to win.
—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2024
But when Jackson knocked on his door, Upham immediately put aside his scruples.
—Susanna Ashton, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Aug. 2024
Hilton, not exactly a figure known for journalistic scruples, felt that Enty’s standards on the blog frequently fell short.
—Lila Shapiro, Vulture, 24 Apr. 2024
Allen’s movies have often displayed an obsession with the nature of evil, a fascination with those who are able to do evil and go on living normally—whose powers of compartmentalization, rationalization, or simple self-righteousness are stronger than their scruples.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2024
Moral leadership, moral clarity and moral scruples are centerpieces of civilization, eclipsing economic statistics or military power.
—Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 9 Feb. 2024
However, his acquisitive wife, who had no such scruples, accepted in his stead, and this became the Summer White House.
—Martin Filler, The New York Review of Books, 9 Nov. 2023
By 2006, no one in Lebanon had any illusions about Israel’s attachment to disproportionality and determination to lash out at enemies with few scruples and considerable wrath.
—Hussein Ibish, The New Republic, 1 Nov. 2023
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Cite this Entry
“Scruple.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scruple. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.
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