scrutiny
scru·ti·ny/ˈskɹu.tɪ.ni/noun
scrutiny is spelled S-C-R-U-T-I-N-Y, 3 syllables: scru·ti·ny. The wrong spelling people search most is scrutinity: about 30 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 99 of all searches for the word. Scrutiny is a noun meaning “Intense study of someone or something”. The plural of scrutiny is scrutinies.
How many letters and syllables are in scrutiny?
| Letters | 8: S-C-R-U-T-I-N-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: scru·ti·ny |
| In writing | 5.5 times per million words; the 10,519th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, scrutinity, about 30 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell scrutiny?
Scrutiny is spelled S-C-R-U-T-I-N-Y. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 99 of the searches for scrutiny in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is scrutiny?
Scrutiny appears 5.5 times per million words in written English, the 10,519th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce scrutiny?
- UK /ˈskɹuː.tɪ.ni/
- UK /ˈskɹuːʔ.n̩.i/
- US /ˈskɹu.tɪ.ni/
Scrutiny has 3 syllables, split scru·ti·ny in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Mélange_a_trois-scrutiny.wav, En-us-scrutiny.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of scrutiny
- scrutinies plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- scrutinying participle, present
- scrutinied participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does scrutiny mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Intense study of someone or something.
- 2
Thorough inspection of a situation or a case.
come under scrutiny
- 3
An examination of catechumens, in the last week of Lent, who were to receive baptism on Easter Day.
- 4
A ticket, or little paper billet, on which a vote is written.
- 5
An examination by a committee of the votes given at an election, for the purpose of correcting the poll.
verb
- 1
obsoleterareTo scrutinize.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Scrutiny in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | genaue Untersuchung, genaue Beobachtung , prüfender od. forschender Blick |
| Portuguese | escrutínio |
| Spanish | escrutinio, escudriño, escudriñamiento, escrutación, escrutamiento |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does scrutiny come from?
From Middle English scrutiny, from Medieval Latin scrūtinium (“a search, an inquiry”), from Vulgar Latin scrūtor (“to search or examine thoroughly”), from Late Latin scrūta (“rubbish, broken trash”), from an extension of Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).