scruple
[noun]
Synonyms:
- misgiving, compunction, doubt, hesitation, qualm, reluctance, second thoughts, uneasiness
[verb]
Synonyms:
- have misgivings about, demur, doubt, have qualms about, hesitate, think twice about

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Related Words: faltering, hesitancy, hesitation, pause, reconsideration, second thought, question, fret, worry

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. scru‧ple¹ /ˈskruːpəl/ noun [countable usually plural, uncountable]
[Date: 1400-1500; Language: Old French; Origin: scrupule, from Latin scrupulus 'small sharp stone, cause of mental discomfort', from scrupus 'sharp stone']
a belief about what is right and wrong that prevents you from doing bad things ⇒ qualm
scruples about doing something
He had no scruples about selling faulty goods to people.
a man with no moral scruples
without scruple
They made thousands of families homeless without scruple.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. scruple² verb
not scruple to do something literary to be willing to do something even though it may be wrong or may upset people:
They did not scruple to bomb innocent civilians.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲