Scrupulous
What it means
Extremely careful to be accurate, fair, and morally responsible.
Reach for it when praising exact work or conduct whose care is guided by conscience
A scrupulous editor checked every quotation against the recording.
Words to choose between 7
| everyday | |
|---|---|
| warm | |
| professional |
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| formal |
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everyday
Fits when nothing relevant has been omitted from the work
Careful Thoroughness measures coverage, not honesty.
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warm
Fits when a person's sense of duty drives reliable care
Careful Conscientious effort may still miss details that scrupulous checking would catch.
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warm
Fits when moral character deserves direct praise
Careful Honor alone does not establish the detailed care implied by scrupulous.
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professional
Fits when exact attention to small details is the chief strength
Careful Meticulous work can serve a dishonest purpose and says nothing about conscience.
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professional
Fits when ethical consistency matters more than fine accuracy
Careful Principled choices can be bold and approximate rather than painstaking.
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professional
rigorous
Fits when a method consistently tests claims against a standard
Careful Rigorous analysis may remain emotionally detached from fairness.
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formal
Fits when exacting standards of correctness or cleanliness are visible
Careful Fastidious can suggest fussiness and need not carry moral care.
Opposites 4
- careless
- dishonest
- negligent
- unscrupulous
Common phrases 3
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scrupulous attention
Scrupulous attention to consent protected every interviewee.
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scrupulous honesty
Her scrupulous honesty extended to errors that nobody else had noticed.
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scrupulous record
The laboratory kept a scrupulous record of each temperature change.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Neskaya, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Updated