scruples
noun
Form of scruple , plural of scruple.
Simple meaning
Motivation deriving logically from ethical or moral principles that govern a person's thoughts and actions.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
skroopuhlzSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈskɹupəlz
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Motivation deriving logically from ethical or moral principles that govern a person's thoughts and actions
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: Motivation deriving logically from ethical or moral principles that govern a person's thoughts and actions
Used this way, scruples is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It turns up most in ethics or values contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Honest and open
- Usage feel
- Precise and approving
Where it naturally appears
- Ethics/values
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: motivation deriving logically from ethical
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.