scruple
UK /ˈskɹuːpəl/ · US /ˈskɹupəl/ noun, verb
Forms scruples scrupling scrupled
- noun Hesitation to act from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; doubt, hesitation or unwillingness due to motives of conscience; moral qualm.
- noun (pharmacy) A weight of ¹⁄₂₈₈ of a pound, that is, twenty grains or one third of a dram, about 1.3 grams (symbol: ℈).
- noun A Hebrew unit of time equal to ¹⁄₁₀₈₀ hour.
- noun (obsolete, by extension) A very small quantity; a particle.
- noun (obsolete) A doubt or uncertainty concerning a matter of fact; intellectual perplexity.
- verb (intransitive) To hesitate or be reluctant to act due to considerations of conscience or expedience. “They wouldn't scruple to cheat us if given the opportunity.”
- verb (intransitive) To excite scruples in; to cause to scruple.
- verb (transitive) To regard with suspicion; to question.
- verb (intransitive, obsolete) To question the truth of (a fact, etc.); to doubt; to hesitate to believe, to question. “I do not scruple to admit that all the Earth seeth but only half of the Moon.”
Synonyms
s.ap. ace atom thought atomy aught bissel continental bit crumb glimpse dab damn dash diddly glint dot spatter drop dusting qualm misgiving
Etymology
From Old French scrupule, from Latin scrūpulus (“(literally) a small sharp or pointed stone; uneasiness of mind, anxiety, doubt, trouble; scruple”) and scrūpulum (“one twenty-fourth of an ounce”), diminutives of scrūpus (“a rough or sharp stone; anxiety, uneasiness”); perhaps akin to Ancient Greek σκύρος (skúros, “the chippings of stone”), from ξυρόν (xurón, “razor”), from ξύω (xúō, “to scrape”), from Proto-Indo-European *ksew-. Doublet of escropulo and escrupulo.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A weight of twenty grains; the third part of a dram.
- noun Hence, a very small quantity; a particle.
- verb To be reluctant or to hesitate, as regards an action, on account of considerations of conscience or expedience.
- verb To regard with suspicion; to hesitate at; to question.
Etymology [L. scrupulus a small sharp or pointed stone, the twenty-fourth part of an ounce, a scruple, uneasiness, doubt, dim. of scrupus a rough or sharp stone, anxiety, uneasiness; perh. akin to Gr. kshura: cf. F. scrupule.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “scruple”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details