unscrupulous
25
7.5
- adjective
- /ʌnˈskruːpjələs/
:
sin escrúpulos
- Abuses persisted, leaving passengers at the mercy of unscrupulous brokers, agents, and masters.
- unscrupulous agents
- unscrupulous brokers
- unscrupulous business
So then an unscrupulous marketer will say, yeah, I'm selling MCT oils.
- So then an unscrupulous marketer will say, yeah, I'm selling MCT oils.
- So it is, you know, it is troubling to see just how, you know, unethical and unscrupulous so many landlords are.
- It's just what you think of when you have literally like no, when you are totally unscrupulous and you don't care about fleecing kids like this.
- It seems to be intended to encourage definite contracting, presumably to protect consumers from from unscrupulous businesses.
- They, you know, an unscrupulous person has the power by dint of their lack of scruple to, to do a huge amount of damage.
- There's just these guys are just unscrupulous.
- But the evidence that they show is weak at the best, anecdotal and unscrupulous to the Max.
- People give money to unscrupulous bankers, they gamble away the money, They do fractional reserve banking, lend out too much runs on banks.
Examples
-
My mother was easy prey for the unscrupulous because she believed herself to be more knowledgeable than she was.
Fiction book (1998) -
Like so many areas of the deep south it was home to moonshiners, outlaws, and other unscrupulous individuals.
-
We are all suffering at the hands of this unscrupulous American.
-
Nor did the agent seek merely to protect these female immigrants against unscrupulous agents, employers, or others.
Academic text (1999) -
Well, there are some unscrupulous people out there, Keller, even in a decent town like Boston.
Fiction book (2000) -
Speaker, I was talking of the economy, the Home secretary again, she said many people find themselves exploited by unscrupulous bosses.
-
Unscrupulous merchants palm them off on unsuspecting tourists.
-
This government's conduct of economic policy has not only been incompetent, it has been unscrupulous, untrustworthy and untruthful.
-
In both play and film, Pastora is materialistic, ambitious, vain, unscrupulous, and disloyal to her husband.
Academic text (1998) -
Unscrupulous merchants often take advantage of unsuspecting customers in order to maximize their profits.
Synonyms
291
4.4
Willing to act dishonestly to gain money or power
128
2.5
Likely to lie or cheat to get something for yourself
102
4.8
Not right according to moral or professional rules most people accept
90
6.5
Trying to trick people to get their money
79
5.5
Not honest and likely to do illegal things
51
6.4
Acting in a dishonest or tricky way to get what you want
31
5.0
Acting in a dishonest way to make people believe something untrue
9
9.1
Willing to take money to do illegal or dishonest things
8
6.6
Willing to do wrong to get what you want
5
7.6
Acting in a way that is unfair or morally wrong
4
5.5
Dishonest and unfair, often in business
3
9.2
Likely to betray someone's trust by lying or cheating
1
7.0
Dishonest and likely to trick people for money or advantage
Dishonest and cruel in ways that hurt others
Not careful about doing the right thing
Something that is not honest or proper and looks suspicious
Dishonest in a way that makes you think of a scam
Not safe to depend on because they may fail or betray you
Antonyms
How Unprincipled
Surface Forms
Morphology
unscrupulous = scrupulous (transparent) = un + scruple + ous
The negative prefix 'un-' is transparently attached to the adjective 'scrupulous' to give the opposite meaning.
Etymology
The word unscrupulous comes from un- + scrupulous, and scrupulous comes from Latin scrupulus, meaning 'small sharp stone' that would make you feel uneasy, like a pebble in your shoe. So an unscrupulous person is someone without that 'pebble' of doubt or conscience, and therefore does not worry about right and wrong, which is why the word means 'not honest or fair'.