scrute

S1C3R1U1T1E1

verb

To examine (something) carefully; to scrutinize.

OriginLatin scrūtor →
Scrabble 8
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Meanings

verbscrute (third-person singular simple present scrutes, present participle scruting, simple past and past participle scruted)

present singular third person scrutes · participle present scruting · participle past scruted · past scruted

  1. intransitiveraretransitiveTo examine (something) carefully; to scrutinize.

    And folks call the Chinese inscrutable. When my elder brother's got his mind fixed on a mystery, there's just no scruting the man.

    2008, Steve Hockensmith, The Black Dove, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Minotaur, →ISBN, page 1
    1 more example

    Hazard scruted the Angels with hooded eyes; the low drone of their murmured ritual chanting of "Make my day" was getting on his nerves. He turned and gloomed down at the table again.

    1996, William Peter Blatty, Demons Five, Exorcists Nothing: A Fable, New York, N.Y.: Donald I. Fine Books, →ISBN, page 36

Origin

  1. Latinscrūtor
  2. Englishscrute

Borrowed from Latin scrūtor, scrūtārī (“to search carefully; to seek for”). Now often reanalyzed from inscrutable.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Custerrectuscruset
Cite this entry
APA

scrute. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scrute

MLA

“scrute.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scrute. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scrute,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scrute.

Source: scrute on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.