unscrupulous

English

Etymology

un- +‎ scrupulous

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌʌnˈskɹuːpjʊləs/
• Hyphenation: un‧scru‧pu‧lous

Adjective

unscrupulous (comparative more unscrupulous, superlative most unscrupulous)

1. Without scruples; immoral.
   • 1888, Rutherford B. Hayes, edited by Charles Richard Williams, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, volume IV, Ohio State Archæological and Historical Society, published 1925, page 374:

     The real difficulty is with the vast wealth and power in the hands of the few and the unscrupulous who represent or control capital.

   • 2016, Doris L. Bergen, “Flashover: The Killing Centers, 1942-1944”, in War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust, page 272:

     Nazism, they wrote, had turned German youth into godless, shameless, unscrupulous murderers.

2. Contemptuous of what is right or honorable.

Antonyms

• scrupulous
• ethical
• upstanding

Translations

without scruples

• Azerbaijani: vicdansız (az), insafsız (az)
• Bulgarian: безскрупулен (bg) (bezskrupulen)
• Czech: bezskrupulózní (cs), bezohledný (cs)
• Danish: skrupelløs
• Dutch: onscrupuleus
• Finnish: häikäilemätön (fi)
• French: inscrupuleux (fr), peu scrupuleux, sans scrupule
• Galician: sen escrúpulos
• German: skrupellos (de), rücksichtslos, gewissenlos, hemmungslos, bedenkenlos, unnachsichtig
• Hungarian: lelkiismeretlen (hu)
• Icelandic: samviskulaus
• Irish: gan scrupall
• Macedonian: несо́весен (nesóvesen), бессо́весен (bessóvesen), непринципие́лен (neprincipiélen), беспри́нципен (bespríncipen), бескрупуло́зен (beskrupulózen)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: skruppelløs

  Nynorsk: skruppellaus

• Polish: bez skrupułów
• Portuguese: inescrupuloso (pt)
• Russian: беспринци́пный (ru) (besprincípnyj)
• Spanish: inescrupuloso
• Swedish: skrupelfri (sv)
• Turkish: ahlaksız (tr), terbiyesiz (tr), vicdansız (tr)
• Uyghur: ۋىجدانسىز (wijdansiz)

contemptuous of what is right or honourable

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不擇手段的／不择手段的 (bùzéshǒuduàn de)

• Czech: bezcharakterní (cs)
• Finnish: häikäilemätön (fi)
• German: skrupellos (de)
• Greek: αδίστακτος (el) (adístaktos)
• Hungarian: gátlástalan (hu), lelkiismeretlen (hu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: skruppelløs

  Nynorsk: skruppellaus

• Spanish: desaprensivo