Standard Lemma guide

unscrupulous

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˌʌnˈskɹuːpjʊləs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AH0 N S K R UW1 P Y AH0 L AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Without scruples; immoral.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Contemptuous of what is right or honorable.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective

Meaning 3

without scruples or principles

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • unscrupulous politicos who would be happy to sell...their country in order to gain power

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: scrupulous

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English scrupulous English unscrupulous From un- + scrupulous.

Across languages

Translations

54 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: vicdansız — without scruples
  • Azerbaijani: insafsız — without scruples
  • Bulgarian: безскрупулен (bezskrupulen) — without scruples
  • Chinese Mandarin: 肆無忌憚 /肆无忌惮 (sìwújìdàn) — without scruples
  • Czech: bezskrupulózní — without scruples
  • Czech: bezohledný — without scruples
  • Danish: skrupelløs — without scruples
  • Dutch: onscrupuleus — without scruples
  • Dutch: gewetenloos — without scruples
  • Estonian: siivutu — without scruples
  • Finnish: häikäilemätön — without scruples
  • French: inscrupuleux — without scruples
  • French: peu scrupuleux — without scruples
  • French: sans scrupule — without scruples
  • Galician: sen escrúpulos — without scruples
  • German: skrupellos — without scruples
  • German: rücksichtslos — without scruples
  • German: gewissenlos — without scruples
  • German: hemmungslos — without scruples
  • German: bedenkenlos — without scruples
  • German: unnachsichtig — without scruples
  • Hungarian: lelkiismeretlen — without scruples
  • Icelandic: samviskulaus — without scruples
  • Irish: gan scrupall — without scruples
  • Italian: senza scrupoli — without scruples
  • Macedonian: несо́весен (nesóvesen) — without scruples
  • Macedonian: бессо́весен (bessóvesen) — without scruples
  • Macedonian: непринципие́лен (neprincipiélen) — without scruples
  • Macedonian: беспри́нципен (bespríncipen) — without scruples
  • Macedonian: бескрупуло́зен (beskrupulózen) — without scruples
  • Māori: kōroiroii — without scruples
  • Norwegian Bokmål: skruppelløs — without scruples
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: skruppellaus — without scruples
  • Polish: bez skrupułów — without scruples
  • Portuguese: inescrupuloso — without scruples
  • Russian: беспринци́пный (besprincípnyj) — without scruples
  • Spanish: inescrupuloso — without scruples
  • Swedish: skrupelfri — without scruples
  • Turkish: ahlaksız — without scruples
  • Turkish: terbiyesiz — without scruples
  • Turkish: vicdansız — without scruples
  • Uyghur: ۋىجدانسىز (wijdansiz) — without scruples
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不擇手段的 /不择手段的 (bùzéshǒuduàn de) — contemptuous of what is right or honourable
  • Czech: bezcharakterní — contemptuous of what is right or honourable
  • Estonian: sündsusetu — contemptuous of what is right or honourable
  • Finnish: häikäilemätön — contemptuous of what is right or honourable
  • German: skrupellos — contemptuous of what is right or honourable
  • Greek: αδίστακτος (adístaktos) — contemptuous of what is right or honourable
  • Hungarian: gátlástalan — contemptuous of what is right or honourable
  • Hungarian: lelkiismeretlen — contemptuous of what is right or honourable
  • Māori: kōroiroi — contemptuous of what is right or honourable
  • Norwegian Bokmål: skruppelløs — contemptuous of what is right or honourable
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: skruppellaus — contemptuous of what is right or honourable
  • Spanish: desaprensivo — contemptuous of what is right or honourable
Real reading context

unscrupulous in complete knowledge articles