Scruple

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈskɹuː.pÉ™l/
• Rhymes: -uːpÉ™l

Origin

From Latin scrūpulus ("uneasiness of mind, trouble, anxiety, doubt, scruple, literally a small sharp or pointed stone, the twenty-fourth part of an ounce"), diminutive of scrūpus ("a rough or sharp stone, anxiety, uneasiness"); perhaps akin to Ancient Greek σκύρος (skuros, "the chippings of stone"), ξυρόν (ksuron, "a razor"), Sanskrit क्षुर (kṣura, "a razor"): compare French scrupule.

Full definition of scruple

Noun

1. (obsolete) A weight of twenty grains; the third part of a dram.
2. (obsolete) Hence, a very small quantity; a particle.
• Ca 1601–1608, William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act II Scene 3 221–222Paroles: I have not, my lord, deserved it. Lafeu: Yes, good faith, ev'ry dram of it, and I will not bate thee a scruple.
3. Hesitation as to action from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; unwillingness, doubt, or hesitation proceeding from motives of conscience.He was made miserable by the conflict between his tastes and his scruples. - Thomas Babington Macaulay.
4. (obsolete) A doubt or uncertainty concerning a matter of fact; intellectual perplexity.
5. A measurement of time. Hebrew culture broke the hour into 1080 scruples.

Synonyms

• (precise weight) s.ap.
• (small amount) see also .

Derived terms

• scrupulous
• unscrupulous

Verb

1. (intransitive) To be reluctant or to hesitate, as regards an action, on account of considerations of conscience or expedience.We are often over-precise, scrupling to say or do those things which lawfully we may. - Thomas Fuller.Men scruple at the lawfulness of a set form of divine worship. - Robert South.
2. To regard with suspicion; to hesitate at; to question.Others long before them ... scrupled more the books of hereties than of gentiles. - John Milton.
3. (obsolete) To doubt; to question; to hesitate to believe; to question the truth of (a fact, etc.).I do not scruple to admit that all the Earth seeth but only half of the Moon.
4. To excite scruples in; to cause to scruple.Letters which did still scruple many of them. -E. Symmons.

Anagrams

• curples