scrutinize
verb
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Scrutinize This Word's Etymology
Scrutinize the history of scrutinize far back enough and you wind up sifting through trash: the word comes from Latin scrutari, which means "to search, to examine," and scrutari likely comes from scruta, meaning "trash." The etymology evokes one who searches through trash for anything of value. The noun scrutiny preceded scrutinize in English, and in its earliest 15th century use referred to a formal vote, and later to an official examination of votes. Scrutinize was established in the 17th century with its familiar "to examine closely" meaning, but retained reference to voting with the specific meaning "to examine votes" at least into the 18th century. (Votes are still commonly said to be scrutinized in the general sense of the word.) And while the term scrutineer can be a general term referring to someone who examines something, it is also sometimes used in British English specifically as a term for someone who takes or counts votes.
Examples of scrutinize in a Sentence
Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 May 2026
An outspoken critic of Bass, Pratt recently used a debate stage to scrutinize her tenure.
—Paris Barraza, USA Today, 8 May 2026
The environmental impacts of Starship launches from Starbase, located on the Gulf Coast of Texas near the Mexico border, have been scrutinized for years.
—Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 8 May 2026
As the astronauts scrutinized the moon that day, so did citizen scientists here on Earth.
—Leonard David, Space.com, 8 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for scrutinize
Cite this Entry
“Scrutinize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scrutinize. Accessed 12 May. 2026.
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scrutinize
verb
