scruple
Conscience-driven reluctance
A scruple is a moral or ethical hesitation that prevents action: She had no scruples about lying to get ahead.
Someone who scruples at something feels reluctant to do it on principle.
The word often appears in the negative—having no scruples or being unscrupulous suggests a willingness to act without moral restraint.
A scruple is also an archaic unit of weight equal to about 1.3 grams, once used by apothecaries.
Internal moral sense
- qualmMomentary moral hesitation
- compunctionUneasiness from guilt
- misgivingUneasy feeling of doubt
- principleFundamental truth or standard
integrity · ethics · virtue · righteousness · honesty · guilt · remorse · pangs
Cereal plant's harvest unit
- dramSmall measure, liquid or weight
- ounceOne-sixteenth of a pound
- minimSmallest apothecary volume
- apothecaryHistorical medicine preparer
pharmaceutical · dosage · prescription · compounding · measurement · weight · pharmacy · medicine
Unwillingness to proceed
- reluctanceDisinclination to act
- pauseTemporary cessation of activity
- waveringShowing unsteady resolve
- indecisionFailure to decide
vacillation · demurral · qualm · unwillingness · reticence · caution · wariness · tentativeness
conscience
Internal moral sense
- qualmMomentary moral hesitation
- compunctionUneasiness from guilt
- misgivingUneasy feeling of doubt
principle · integrity · ethics · virtue · righteousness · honesty · guilt · remorse · pangs · probity
grain
Cereal plant's harvest unit
apothecary · pharmaceutical · dosage · prescription · compounding · measurement · weight · pharmacy · medicine · twentieth
hesitancy
Unwillingness to proceed
- reluctanceDisinclination to act
- pauseTemporary cessation of activity
- waveringShowing unsteady resolve
indecision · vacillation · demurral · qualm · unwillingness · reticence · caution · wariness · tentativeness · balking
- measurementsheight, stature, meters, depth, pound
- doubtdoubt, doubts, doubting, doubtful, skepticism
- moral qualmsguilt, regret, shame, remorse, compunction
- reluctancereluctance, unwillingness, disinclination, hesitation, reticence
- unitsunit, angstrom, yard, meter, base units
- weightsgram, kilogram, ounce, pound, ton
scrupleunscrupulousness
Lack of ethical restraint
ruthlessness · amorality · recklessness · shamelessness · heedlessness
scrupleproceed
Move forward, continue
confidence · assurance · conviction · act · advance
scrupulous, unscrupulous, scruples, scrupulously, unscrupulously, unscrupulousness, scrupulosity, scrupling