SG Heritage Dictionary

Scruple [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. Doubt; hesitation from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; backwardness; reluctance to decide or to act. A man of fashionable honor makes no scruple to take another's life, or expose his own. He has no scruples of conscience, or he despises them.

2. A weight of twenty grains, the third part of a dram; among goldsmiths, the weight of 24 grains.

3. Proverbially, a very small quantity.

4. In Chaldean chronology, the 1/1080 part of an hour; a division of time used by the Jews, Arabs, etc..

5. Scruple of half duration, an arch of the moon's orbit, which the moon's center describes from the beginning of an eclipse to the middle.

6. Scruples of immersion or incidence, an arch of the moon's orbit, which her center describes from the beginning of the eclipse to the time when its center falls into the shadow.

7. Scruples of emersion, an arch of the moon's orbit, which her center describes in the time from the first emersion of the moon's limb to the end of the eclipse.

Scruple [Verb intransitive] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. To doubt; to hesitate.

2. He scrupl'd not to eat, against his better knowledge.

Scruple [Verb transitive] Webster's Dictionary 1828

To doubt; to hesitate to believe; to question; as, to scruple the truth or accuracy of an account or calculation.

Scruple [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

1. A weight of twenty grains; the third part of a dram.

2. Hence, a very small quantity; a particle.

3. Hesitation as to action from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; unwillingness, doubt, or hesitation proceeding from motives of conscience.

Scruple [Verb intransitive] Webster's Dictionary 1913

To be reluctant or to hesitate, as regards an action, on account of considerations of conscience or expedience.

Scruple [Verb transitive] Webster's Dictionary 1913

1. To regard with suspicion; to hesitate at; to question.

2. To excite scruples in; to cause to scruple.

Scrupled [Participle passive] Webster's Dictionary 1828

Doubted; questioned.

Scrupled [Imperfect tense and past participle] Webster's Dictionary 1913

of Scruple

Scrupler [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1828

A doubter; one who hesitates.

Scrupler [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

One who scruples.

Smallness Roget’s Thesaurus §32

N. smallness, littleness, tenuity, paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance) 643, mediocrity, moderation, small quantity, modicum, trace, hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point, atom, particle, molecule, corpuscle, point, speck, dot, mote, jot, iota, ace, minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon, dab, dight, whit, tittle, shade, shadow, spark, scintilla, gleam, touch, cast, grain, scruple, granule, globule, minim, sup, sip, sop, spice, drop, droplet, sprinkling, dash, morceau, screed, smack, tinge, tincture, inch, patch, scantling, tatter, cantlet, flitter, gobbet, mite, bit, morsel, crumb, seed, fritter, shive, snip, snippet, snick, snack, snatch, slip, scrag, chip, chipping, shiver, sliver, driblet, clipping, paring, shaving, hair, nutshell, thimbleful, spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean, animalcule, trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity

V. be small, lie in a nutshell, diminish, (contract) 195

Adj. small, little, diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable, paltry, faint, slender, light, slight, scanty, scant, limited, meager, sparing, few, low, so-so, middling, tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb, halfway, moderate, modest, tender, subtle, inappreciable, evanescent, infinitesimal, homeopathic, very small, atomic, corpuscular, microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer, stark, bare, near run, dull, petty, shallow, stolid, ungifted, unintelligent

Adv. to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly, imperceptibly, miserably, wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly, faintly, passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly, well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about, thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand

Phr. dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, "small sands the mountain, moments make the year", quantity by comparison with a similar object

Gravity Roget’s Thesaurus §319

N. gravity, gravitation, weight, heaviness, # specific gravity, pondorosity, pressure, load, burden, burthen, ballast, counterpoise, lump of, mass of, weight of, lead, millstone, mountain, ossa on pelion, weighing, ponderation, trutination|, weights, avoirdupois weight, troy weight, apothecaries' weight, grain, scruple, drachma, ounce, pound, lb, arroba, load, stone, hundredweight, cwt, ton, long ton, metric ton, quintal, carat, pennyweight, tod, gram, centigram, milligram, microgram, kilogram, nanogram, picogram, femtogram, attogram, balance, scale, scales, steelyard, beam, weighbridge, spring balance, piezoelectric balance, analytical balance, two-pan balance, one-pan balance, postal scale, baby scale, statics

V. be heavy, gravitate, weigh, press, cumber, load, weigh, poise

Adj. weighty, weighing, heavy as lead, ponderous, ponderable, lumpish, lumpy, cumbersome, burdensome, cumbrous, unwieldy, massive, incumbent, superincumbent

Care Roget’s Thesaurus §459

N. care, solicitude, heed, heedfulness, scruple, watchfulness, vigilance, surveillance, eyes of argus, watch, vigil, look out, watch and ward, loeil du maitre, alertness, attention, prudence &c, circumspection, anxiety, forethought, precaution, tidiness, (cleanliness) 652, accuracy, minuteness, attention to detail

V. be careful, reck, take care, pay attention to, take care of, look to, look after, see to, see after, keep an eye on, keep a sharp eye on, chaperon, matronize, play gooseberry, keep watch, keep watch and ward, mount guard, set watch, watch, keep in sight, keep in view, mind, mind one's business, look sharp, look about one, look with one's own eyes, keep a good lookout, keep a sharp lookout, have all one's wits about one, have all one's eyes about one, watch for, keep one's eyes open, have the eyes open, sleep with one's eye open

Adj. careful regardful, heedful, taking care, particular, prudent, considerate, thoughtful, provident, alert, sure-footed, guarded, on one's guard, on the qui vivre, on the alert, on watch, on the lookout, awake, broad awake, vigilant, watchful, wakeful, wistful, argus-eyed, wide awake, on the watch for (expectant) 507, tidy, (clean) 652, accurate, scrupulous, cavendo tutus

Adv. carefully, with care, gingerly

Phr. quis custodiet istos custodes?, "care will kill a cat", ni bebas agua que no veas, "o polished perturbation! golden care!", "the incessant care and labor of his mind"

Unbelief. Doubt Roget’s Thesaurus §485

N. unbelief, disbelief, misbelief, discredit, miscreance, infidelity, dissent, change of opinion, retraction, doubt, skepticism, scepticism, misgiving, demure, distrust, mistrust, cynicism, misdoubt, suspicion, jealousy, scruple, qualm, onus probandi, incredibility, incredibleness, incredulity, doubter, skeptic, cynic, unbeliever

V. disbelieve, discredit, not believe, misbelieve, refuse to admit, refuse to believe, doubt, be doubtful, doubt the truth of, be skeptical as to, diffide|, distrust, mistrust, suspect, smoke, scent, smell a rat, have doubts, harbor doubts, entertain doubts, suspicions, have one's doubts, demure, stick at, pause, hesitate, scruple, stop to consider, waver, hang in suspense, hang in doubt, throw doubt upon, raise a question, bring in, call in question, question, challenge, dispute, deny, cavil, cause a doubt, raise a doubt, start a doubt, suggest a doubt, awake a doubt, make suspicion, ergotize, startle, stagger, shake one's faith, shake one's belief, stagger one's faith, stagger one's belief

Adj. unbelieving, skeptical, sceptical, incredulous as to, skeptical as to, distrustful as to, shy as to, suspicious of, doubting, doubtful, disputable, unworthy of, undeserving of belief, questionable, suspect, suspicious, open to suspicion, open to doubt, staggering, hard to believe, incredible, unbelievable, not to be believed, inconceivable, impossible, fallible, undemonstrable, controvertible

Adv. cum grano salis, with grains of allowance

Phr. fronti nulla fides, nimium ne crede colori, "timeo danaos et dona ferentes", beware of greeks bearing gifts, credat judaeus apella, let those believe who may, ad tristem partem stenua est suspicio

Unwillingness Roget’s Thesaurus §603

N. unwillingness, indisposition, indisposedness, disinclination, aversation, nolleity, nolition, renitence, renitency, reluctance, indifference, backwardness, slowness, want of alacrity, want of readiness, indocility, scrupulousness, scrupulosity, qualms of conscience, twinge of conscience, delicacy, demur, scruple, qualm, shrinking, recoil, hesitation, fastidiousness, averseness, dissent, refusal

V. be unwilling, nill, dislike, grudge, begrudge, not be able to find it in one's heart to, not have the stomach to, demur, stick at, scruple, stickle, hang fire, run rusty, recoil, shrink, swerve, hesitate, avoid, oppose, dissent, refuse

Adj. unwilling, not in the vein, loth, loath, shy of, disinclined, indisposed, averse, reluctant, not content, adverse, laggard, backward, remiss, slack, slow to, indifferent, scrupulous, squeamish, repugnant, restiff|, restive, demurring, unconsenting, involuntary

Adv. unwillingly, grudgingly, with a heavy heart, with a bad, with an ill grace, against one's wishes, against one's will, against the grain, sore against one's wishes, sore against one's will, sore against one's grain, invita minerva, a contre caeur, malgre soi, in spite of one's teeth, in spite of oneself, nolens volens, perforce, under protest, no, not for the world, far be it from me

Absence of Motive Roget’s Thesaurus §615a

N. absence of motive, aimlessness, # caprice, chance

V. have no motive, scruple

Adj. without rhyme or reason, aimless, capricious, whimsical

Adv. out of mere caprice

Probity Roget’s Thesaurus §939

N. probity, integrity, rectitude, uprightness, honesty, faith, honor, bonne foi, good faith, bona fides, purity, clean hands, fairness, fair play, justice, equity, impartiality, principle, even-handedness, grace, constancy, faithfulness, fidelity, loyalty, incorruption, incorruptibility, trustworthiness, truth, candor, singleness of heart, veracity, tender conscience, punctilio, delicacy, nicety, scrupulosity, scrupulousness, scruple, point, point of honor, punctuality, dignity &c, (repute) 873, respectability, respectableness, gentilhomme, gentleman, man of honor, man of his word, fidus achates, preux chevalier, galantuomo, truepenny, trump, brick, true briton, white man *, court of honor, a fair field and no favor, argumentum ad verecundiam

V. be honorable, deal honorably, deal squarely, deal impartially, deal fairly, speak the truth, draw a straight furrow, tell the truth and shame the devil, vitam impendere vero, show a proper spirit, make a point of, do one's duty, redeem one's pledge, keep one's promise, be as good as one's promise, be as good as one's word, keep faith with, not fail, give and take, audire alteram partem, give the devil his due, put the saddle on the right horse, redound to one's honor

Adj. upright, honest, honest as daylight, veracious, virtuous, honorable, fair, right, just, equitable, impartial, evenhanded, square, fair and aboveboard, open and aboveboard, white *, constant, constant as the northern star, faithful, loyal, staunch, true, true blue, true to one's colors, true to the core, true as the needle to the pole, "marble-constant", true-hearted, trusty, trustworthy, as good as one's word, to be depended on, incorruptible, straightforward, frank, candid, open-hearted, conscientious, tender-conscienced, right-minded, high-principled, high-minded, scrupulous, religious, strict, nice, punctilious, correct, punctual, respectable, reputable, gentlemanlike, inviolable, inviolate, unviolated, unbroken, unbetrayed, unbought, unbribed, innocent, pure, stainless, unstained, untarnished, unsullied, untainted, unperjured, uncorrupt, uncorrupted, undefiled, undepraved, undebauched, integer vitae scelerisque purus, justus et tenax propositi, chivalrous, jealous of honor, sans peur et sans reproche, high- spirited, supramundane, unworldly, other-worldly, overscrupulous

Adv. honorable, bona fide, on the square, in good faith, honor bright, foro conscientiae, with clean hands

Phr. "a face untaught to feign", bene qui latuit bene vixit, mens sibi conscia recti, probitas laudatur et alget, fidelis ad urnam, "his heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth", loyaute m'oblige, loyaute n'a honte, "what stronger breastplate than a heart untainted?"