Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Unscrupulous for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Today's word is "unscrupulous" — an adjective, pronounced /ʌnˈskruː.pjə.ləs/, stress on "scru".
Narrator: Unscrupulous means having no moral principles — willing to be dishonest or unfair to get what one wants.
Narrator: In plain English, an unscrupulous person cuts corners and cheats, without conscience or scruple.
Narrator: It describes people and businesses that ignore right and wrong in pursuit of their own gain.
Narrator: It's built from "un", not, and "scrupulous", from the Latin "scrupulus", a small sharp pebble.
Narrator: That pebble in a sandal stood for a nagging worry of conscience — a scruple about doing wrong.
Narrator: So to be scrupulous is to feel that worry; to be unscrupulous is to feel none at all.
Narrator: In tone it's formal and strongly negative, common in warnings about fraud, scams, and bad actors.
Narrator: So remember: unscrupulous means without conscience — willing to cheat, with no pebble of doubt at all.
Speaker A: Watch out — that company has a rather unscrupulous reputation.
Speaker B: Good warning. Unscrupulous firms will cut any corner to profit.
Speaker A: Exactly. "An unscrupulous seller" hides faults to make a sale.
Speaker B: Right. It's all about having no moral scruples at all.
Speaker A: Yes, doing wrong without a flicker of conscience.
Speaker B: A common mistake is the spelling — that tricky "scru-pu-lous".
Speaker A: Good point. It's worth saying slowly to spell it right.
Speaker B: Close synonyms? "Dishonest" and "unethical" are close.
Speaker A: And "corrupt" when the wrongdoing runs deep.
Speaker B: So avoid those unscrupulous middlemen entirely.
Speaker A: Not to be trusted.
Speaker B: Plainly unscrupulous.
Speaker B: Let's use "unscrupulous" in prompts to defend against bad actors, fraud, and abuse.
Speaker A: So "unscrupulous" tells the AI to think like an attacker?
Speaker B: Exactly. For security, you'd write:
Prompt: Review my form assuming an unscrupulous user will try to break it. Block each trick an unscrupulous person might use, validating every input so bad data never gets through.
Speaker B: The word "unscrupulous" tells the model to defend against deliberate misuse, not just mistakes.
Speaker A: Wise. What about payments?
Speaker B: Try this:
Prompt: Protect my checkout from unscrupulous buyers gaming discounts. Stop each unscrupulous trick — stacked codes, fake refunds — so honest customers stay safe and the system isn't abused.
Speaker A: So it's fair. What about accounts?
Speaker B: Here you go:
Prompt: Add protection against unscrupulous sign-ups creating fake accounts. Detect each unscrupulous pattern — bursts, bots — so genuine users get in while the cheats are kept out.
Speaker A: Cleaner data. What about reviews?
Speaker B: Try this:
Prompt: Build moderation that flags unscrupulous fake reviews. Spot each unscrupulous attempt to manipulate ratings, so the scores stay honest and shoppers can trust what they read.
Speaker A: Could it audit for risk?
Speaker B: Yes:
Prompt: Audit my app for ways an unscrupulous user could exploit it. List each unscrupulous angle by risk, so I close the most dangerous loopholes first.
Speaker A: So "unscrupulous" means a bad actor.
Speaker B: Exactly — a sharp word for security and abuse defence.
Unscrupulous — meaning in Arabic & definition More U courses GL Dictionary