unscrupulous

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + scrupulous.^[2][3][4][5] Scrupulous, recorded from the mid-15th century, is from Anglo-Norman scrupulus and directly from Latin scrupulosus (“careful, exact”), from scrupulus, the source of scruple.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having no scruples: by 1753 in Etymonline.^[3] The OED and Merriam-Webster first record it in 1803, in William Godwin's Life of Chaucer,^[2][6] and Dictionary.com dates it to 1795–1805.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word negates the moral sense of scrupulous: that adjective first meant "characterized by fine distinctions of doubt" in the mid-15th century, and by the 1540s "careful to follow the dictates of conscience", from which came the non-moral sense "exact, precise, punctilious" in the 1630s.^[3] Unscrupulous took only the moral side, describing a person without scruples of conscience, and then methods, words and conduct showing such a lack.^[6][4] The adverb unscrupulously and the nouns unscrupulousness and unscrupulosity followed.^[3][7][5]

Timeline

• 1753 – of a person, having no scruples.^[3] The OED's first quotation is from 1803.^[2][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having no moral scruples; unprincipled, and ready to act dishonestly or unfairly for one's own ends: an unscrupulous dealer who sold forged maps.^[7][6][4]
2. Of actions, methods or words: showing a lack of scruples: unscrupulous lending practices.^[6][4]

Word family

• unscrupulously
• unscrupulousness

Related words

• scruple
• scrupulous
• scrupulosity

Usage notes

Dictionary.com distinguishes it from unprincipled: both describe a lack of moral standards, but an unscrupulous person knows the rules of right and justice and ignores or despises them, while an unprincipled person has no moral principles at all.^[5]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins