Forty years ago, I was a fanatic to play intellectual board games, much to the chagrin of my then fiancée Patti. I amassed every edition of Trivial Pursuit I could find. Another game I enjoyed was A Question of Scruples: The Game of Moral Dilemmas.
“The local grocer gives you $5 more in change than you deserve. You discover this outside the store. Do you return with the $5? You witness a car accident in which one party is clearly to blame. Do you come forward to testify? These are the moral dilemmas of Scruples. Everybody has moral dilemmas, but they rarely discuss them. A QUESTION OF SCRUPLES lets people talk, get to know each other, and be entertained all at once. It’s a winner!” (copyright 1984 High Game Enterprises, Winnipeg, MB)
People described as scrupulous might feel discomfort in anything that tests their moral sensibilities. The challenges might present a nagging feeling, much as a sharp pebble in a shoe might nag a walker intent on getting somewhere.
Scrupulous and scruple both derive from the Latin scrupulus, meaning a small sharp stone. Scrupulus is the diminutive of the Latin scrupus, a sharp stone. Scrupus was also used in a metaphorical sense as a source of anxiety or uneasiness.
Scrupulous entered the English language in the 15th century, with the meaning of principled, having moral integrity, acting in strict regard for what is considered right or proper. The preacher upbraided the congregation for their unscrupulous actions during the villages’ Christmas festivities. The town’s blacksmith was known throughout the region as a man of scrupulous principles.
Over the years scrupulous then morphed into also describing punctiliously exact or painstakingly careful. The only children they had were two boys and she was very scrupulous about treating them precisely the same. He was admired throughout the scientific community for the research he carried out with scrupulous attention to detail. Probably the most painstaking part of the job is the scrupulous documentation process.
Scrupulous can be showing strict regard for what is morally right. In this sense synonyms are upright, honest, just, conscientious, and honourable.
Upright implies a very strict adherence to moral principles. He was a stern and upright minister, just what the congregation needed at the time.
Honest stresses adherence to the virtues of truthfulness, candor, and fairness. The CEO was known around Bay Street as being honest in his business dealings.
Just means making a conscious choice and regular practice of what is right or equitable. The owner of the establishment gave just compensation to all levels of workers in the store.
Conscientious implies an active moral sense governing all of one’s actions. He was conscientious in the completion of his assignments.
Honourable suggests a firm holding to codes of right behaviour and the guidance of a high sense of honour and duty. When it came to family decisions about discipline, she made difficult but honourable pronouncements.
Scrupulous also has the sense of showing close attention to detail. The synonyms are careful, meticulous, and punctilious.
Careful means attentiveness and cautiousness in avoiding mistakes. He performed a careful review of the test before handing it to the teacher.
Meticulous implies commendable extreme thoroughness or a hampering finicky caution over small points. She was meticulous when it came to measuring the ingredients for the Finnish bread. He was too meticulous in judging the cleanliness of the bedroom.
Punctilious suggests minute, even excessive attention to fine points. She instilled in her children a punctilious observance of the Christmas dinner rituals.
Perhaps you can consider playing A Question of Scruples as a party game on New Year’s Eve. Most of us would like to be scrupulous in the sense of showing close attention to detail in things that matter to us. However, scrupulous, in the sense of having or showing a strict regard for what is morally right, is much more challenging as it seems that morality has lost its moorings and become whatever seems right to the individual. In this new year, will scrupulous people fade from memory or make a comeback?