Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of self-scrutiny That may be too much heightened self-scrutiny. Bryan Price, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025 In a foundational study, it was found that companies professing a strong belief in meritocracy were more likely to reward men over equally performing women because the belief in objectivity ironically reduces self-scrutiny in decisions, giving managers subconscious permission to act on stereotypes. Heather Price, Forbes.com, 30 July 2025 Few other nations are as prone to self-scrutiny and self-criticism, or as engaged in impassioned discourse on the nature of liberty and democracy without fear of governmental repression. Kenneth Lasson, Baltimore Sun, 1 Jan. 2025 Above all, Raisman is working on breaking free from a vicious cycle of self-scrutiny. Katie Camero, USA TODAY, 29 Feb. 2024 Since my teens, a tendency to spiral into a tornado of self-scrutiny and expecting the absolute worst to happen have been toxic friends of mine. Emma Firth, Vogue, 14 Nov. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-scrutiny
Noun
  • It was thought that the simple last scene of Tom readying Ethan’s bedroom and giving the always subtly expressive Ruffalo a moment of quiet introspection would do the trick.
    Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Even then, there’s still room for some introspection on the record.
    Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 23 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Mother’s turbulent self-examination is incited by the revelation of Sister Agnieszka’s pregnancy in the film’s first Act.
    Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 27 Aug. 2025
  • This disciplined self-examination is the foundation for refining skills and advancing toward mastery.
    Richard Menger MD MPA, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • As for you … Superlatives Quick Snaps 🐯 Clemson’s bye week means time for some soul-searching at 3-4.
    Alex Kirshner, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
  • The film is a more quiet, wintry contemplation and tortured soul-searching.
    Katie Walsh, Boston Herald, 23 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • With words infallibly falling short, Pritam mingled realism with a fragmentary style of narration that meshes together social encounters, violent episodes, vivid metaphors, disturbing dreams, memories, intimate self-reflections, and introspection on society.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 30 Oct. 2025
  • The book’s journey through the brain ends at the frontal pole, a region involved in self-reflection — thinking about thinking.
    Big Think, Big Think, 18 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • There are three invitations leaders can offer their direct reports: Play with the technology as a tool for self-observation.
    Michael Hudson, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
  • Anyone who has tracked their daily steps or worn a glucose monitor can testify that self-observation works.
    Dev Patnaik, Forbes, 7 Oct. 2024
Noun
  • But users can instruct it to be tentative, hesitant, self-questioning or even deliberately clumsy.
    Chris Reed, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • Still, this isn’t about contemplation or quiet reflection.
    Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
  • Among them, not least, is the modest, egoless ideal of democratic tradition captured so perfectly in such American monuments as the Lincoln Memorial, which shows not a hero but a man, seated, in grave contemplation.
    Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • But such athletic excess is part of what makes this album admirable, as is a sense of spiritual and intellectual hunger that’ll be quickly recognizable to anyone familiar with the Ziggy Stardust/Zen Arcade/Tommy school of self-searching rock epic.
    Jon Dolan, Rolling Stone, 2 May 2025
  • One of many things the culture lost with Lennon’s death was his rare example as a burgeoning and often self-searching male feminist, serving as a role model for men looking to take account of their behavior.
    Jon Pareles, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Self-scrutiny.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-scrutiny. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!