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 evoking 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 meaning "to examine votes" at least into the 18th century. And while the term scrutineer can be a general term referring to someone who examines something, it is also sometimes used specifically as a term for an election poll watcher.
Examples of scrutinize in a Sentence
Jon Haworth, ABC News, 10 Sep. 2025
That goes a long way at the Olympics, where judges scrutinize the cleanliness of riders’ grabs and landings.
—Michelle Bruton, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Under former President Joe Biden, the CFPB had sought to amend its exam manual to give its bank examiners more leeway to scrutinize financial institutions for potentially discriminatory practices, court records show.
—Jake Pearson, ProPublica, 9 Sep. 2025
The administration also plans to scrutinize social media companies as well as influencers paid to promote pharmaceutical products without proper disclosures or without following the rules that drugmakers must follow, according to the officials.
—Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 9 Sep. 2025
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 Sep. 2025.
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scrutinize
verb
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