scruple
/ˈskɹupəl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.89 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
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
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.
verb
To hesitate or be reluctant to act due to considerations of conscience or expedience.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Before her flew Affliction, girt in ſtorms, / Gaſht all with guſhing wounds; and all the formes / Of bane, and miſerie, frowning in her face; / Whom Tyrannie, and Iniuſtice, had in Chace; / Grimme Perſecution, Pouertie, and Shame; / Detraction, Enuie, foule Mishap and lame; / Scruple of Conſcience; Feare, Deceipt, Deſpaire; / Slaunder, and Clamor, that rent all the Ayre; […]"
- "[U]ntil the Commonwealth [of England] torture was constantly used as an instrument of evidence in the investigation of offences, whether municipal or political, without scruple, and without question as to its legality."
- "The four chief sins of which he was guilty were dancing, ringing the bells of the parish church, playing at tipcat, and reading the History of Sir Bevis of Southampton. A Rector of the school of [William] Laud would have held such a young man up to the whole parish as a model. But [John] Bunyan's notions of good and evil had been learned in a very different school; and he was made miserable by the conflict between his tastes and his scruples."
- "Ricky, I'm going to miss you. Apparently you're the only one in Casablanca with less scruples than I."
- "The Oyle ſerueth in many operations, and ſpecially in all colde diſeaſes, if they be inwardly, give thereof euerye morning one ſcruple to drinke, and if they be outward annoynt."
- "Bezoar (Horſe) called Hypolites, excites Sweat, reſiſts Poiſon, kills the Worms, and ſtops a Looſeneſs; the Doſe is from half a Scruple to two Scruples."
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.
Origin
- Source language: Old French
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈskɹupəl/
- British English: /ˈskɹuːpəl/