unscrupulous

adjective

ˌən-ˈskrü-pyə-ləs How to pronounce unscrupulous (audio)
Definition of unscrupulousnext
as in immoral
not guided by or showing a concern for what is right an unscrupulous businessman manipulated them into selling their land for practically nothing

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 unscrupulous Connecticut gets a bad reputation This leads to the 1833 story of the unscrupulous Connecticut peddlers. — Ava Berger, NPR, 28 May 2026 At age 11, my favorite Broadway show was Follies – a classic preteen tale about the decay of female beauty and fading fame within an unscrupulous industry of vaudeville and burlesque. — Greg Evans, Deadline, 27 June 2026 Indeed, once the former’s economic situation forces them to withdraw from hosting duties just four years before kickoff, the opportunist pulls out every unscrupulous trick in the book to thwart the rival bids from, ironically, Canada and USA. — Jon O'Brien, Vulture, 10 June 2026 The Khmer Rouge lost power in 1979, but fighting and instability continued for decades, leaving Cambodia's temples unprotected and vulnerable… easy targets for unscrupulous antiquities dealers like Douglas Latchford. — Anderson Cooper, CBS News, 28 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for unscrupulous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unscrupulous
  1. immoral
  2. ruthless
  3. corrupt
  4. unprincipled
  5. unethical
Adjective
  • Some rabbinic readings attribute Lot’s hesitation to leave Sodom to his immoral greed and inordinate wealth.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 July 2026
  • Court records show that 60-year-old Bradley Kyle Martin, of Dearborn Heights, is charged with using a computer or internet to communicate with another person to commit a crime and accosting children for immoral purposes.
    — DeJanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 25 June 2026
Definition of immoral
Adjective
  • Natural selection is usually ruthless about weeding out traits with no function.
    — Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
  • Supergirl builds to a final showdown with Krem of the Yellow Hills, the ruthless Brigands leader who murdered Ruthye’s family and poisoned Krypto early in the film.
    — Lily Brown, PEOPLE, 26 June 2026
Definition of ruthless
Adjective
  • Harry and the six other high-profile claimants failed to prove their allegations that the publisher unlawfully obtained private information through methods including private investigators, deception, phone hacking and corrupt payments.
    — Erin Hill, PEOPLE, 7 July 2026
  • After all, this was FIFA, the infamously corrupt governing body of international soccer that seems to function not based on its rulebook but on the whims of a few guys in a room.
    — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 7 July 2026
Definition of corrupt
Adjective
  • That doesn't enable cunning and unprincipled men to subvert the power of the people.
    — Lori A Bashian , Larry Fink, FOXNews.com, 30 June 2026
  • Ditto his despicable aides and Cabinet members, his unprincipled sycophants and suck-ups.
    — Robert B. Reich, Hartford Courant, 9 June 2026
Definition of unprincipled
Adjective
  • Experts link this to a lack of trust rooted in past unethical practices and concerns about data extraction.
    — Kate Vitasek, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
  • In another nod to Scream, Cheri Oteri parodies Courteney Cox’s Gale Weathers as the comically unethical news anchor Gail Hailstorm.
    — Skyler Trepel, Entertainment Weekly, 27 June 2026
Definition of unethical

Browse Nearby Words

unscripted
unscrupulous
unscrupulousness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Unscrupulous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unscrupulous. Accessed 9 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on unscrupulous

Nglish: Translation of unscrupulous for Spanish Speakers

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!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tacit

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All