How to use scruple in a sentence

11 example sentences · noun, verb

Scruple means hesitation to act from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; doubt, hesitation or unwillingness due to motives of conscience; moral qualm. Example: “They wouldn't scruple to cheat us if given the opportunity.”

Examples of scruple by meaning

nounHesitation to act from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; doubt, hesitation or unwillingness due...

Apparently you're the only one in Casablanca with less scruples than I.1942, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, Casablanca, spoken by Captain Renault (Claude Rains)

nounA weight of ¹⁄₂₈₈ of a pound, that is, twenty grains or one third of a dram, about 1.3 grams (symbol: ℈).

Marcus Empiricus, a Roma physician, prescribed three scruples of cress, three of red onion, three of pine seed, three of Indian nard, for impotence.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 70

verbTo hesitate or be reluctant to act due to considerations of conscience or expedience.

They wouldn't scruple to cheat us if given the opportunity.
We do not scruple to tell them that they can be happy, content, comfortable, without the surroundings to which they are primarily adapted.1923, Anthony Ludovici, “The Subject Treated Generally”, in Woman; A Vindication, London: Constable, page 30

verbTo 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.

More sentences with scruple

It was a place of wildly fluctuating codes of behaviour and scruples.2020 September 1, Tom Lamont, “The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian. From the entry honest John
"As an instrument of economic policy, incantation does not permit of minor doubts or scruples."2007, Ian Jack, The Guardian, 22 Sep 07. From the entry permit
His final scruple melted when he learned that I should not require him to sit up with me.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards…. From the entry melt
Does this reflect a scribal scruple to have the element of universal heirhood incorporated, or is this a piety of Sara herself?1996, Robert Ignatius Burns, Jews in the Notarial Culture. From the entry heirhood
But when the service of truth and the public good command, there are certain scruples which are immoral and certain charitablenesses which are dangerous.1947, The New Era in Home and School, volume 28, page 66. From the entry charitableness
Beyond the artistic considerations already stressed, the fact that in each of these three cases the assassin has scruples means that he must have some degree of personal independence.1991, Martin Wiggins, “Assassins Outside Drama”, in Journeymen in Murder: The Assassin in English Renaissance Drama, Oxford, Oxon…. From the entry banditto

Meaning of scruple

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.

Full definition of scruple

Questions about scruple in a sentence

How do you use scruple in a sentence?: Scruple is used as a noun and verb. For example: “They wouldn't scruple to cheat us if given the opportunity.”
What is a short sentence with scruple?: “They wouldn't scruple to cheat us if given the opportunity.”
What does scruple mean?: Scruple means hesitation to act from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; doubt, hesitation or unwillingness due to motives of conscience; moral qualm.

Adapted from Wiktionary: scruple (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use scruple in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/scruple. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.