scrupled

Scrupled is the past tense and past participle of the verb scruple, meaning to hesitate or feel moral doubt about acting in a certain way, or to refrain from doing something because of ethical concerns. For example, one might say, "She scrupled to accept the gift."

As a noun, scruple denotes a feeling of doubt or hesitation arising from moral or ethical considerations. In historical contexts, scruple also referred to a unit of weight in the apothecaries’ system, equal to 20 grains, used in medicine and pharmacology.

Etymology traces scruple to Old French escruple, which in turn derives from Latin scrupulus, meaning a small stone or obstacle. The figurative extension to moral hesitation developed over time, giving English the sense of a qualm or scruple that moderates conduct. The adjective form is scrupulous, and the related verb is scruple, with the past tense being scrupled and the present participle scrupling.

Usage notes: scrupled is somewhat formal and is often found in literary or historical writing. It commonly collocates with prepositions such as at or to: to scruple at doing harm; to scruple to tell a lie. In contrast, the phrase without scruple means lacking moral restraint, while to have scruples means to possess such moral concerns.