SCRUTINIZE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does scrutinize mean? 

• SCRUTINIZE (verb)
  The verb SCRUTINIZE has 2 senses:

1. to look at critically or searchingly, or in minute detail

2. examine carefully for accuracy with the intent of verification

  Familiarity information: SCRUTINIZE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SCRUTINIZE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they scrutinize    ... he / she / it scrutinizes   
Past simple: scrutinized   
Past participle: scrutinized   
-ing form: scrutinizing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

To look at critically or searchingly, or in minute detail

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

scrutinise; scrutinize; size up; take stock

Context example:

he scrutinized his likeness in the mirror

Hypernyms (to "scrutinize" is one way to...):

examine; see (observe, check out, and look over carefully or inspect)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The customs agents scrutinize the bags for drugs

Derivation:

scrutinizer (a careful examiner; someone who inspects with great care)

scrutiny (the act of examining something closely (as for mistakes))

scrutiny (a prolonged intense look)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Examine carefully for accuracy with the intent of verification

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

audit; inspect; scrutinise; scrutinize

Context example:

audit accounts and tax returns

Hypernyms (to "scrutinize" is one way to...):

analyse; analyze; canvass; examine; study (consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

scrutinizer (a careful examiner; someone who inspects with great care)

scrutiny (the act of examining something closely (as for mistakes))

scrutiny (a prolonged intense look)

 Context examples 

Scrutinize your credit card and bank statements to make sure there are no unauthorized charges.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

“You are not busy, Mr. Heep?” said Traddles, whose eye the cunning red eye accidentally caught, as it at once scrutinized and evaded us.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The University of Massachusetts scientists set out to scrutinize the contents of tiny sacks released by cells called extracellular vesicles.

(Memory gene goes viral, National Institutes of Health)

Then he carefully scrutinized the broken and frayed end where it had snapped off when the burglar had dragged it down.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Before Curiosity began further investigating the high-silica area, it was busy scrutinizing the geological contact zone near Marias Pass, where a pale mudstone meets darker sandstone.

(Curiosity Rover Inspects Unusual Bedrock, NASA)

She withdrew herself a step behind the chair, to keep her own face out of Mrs. Steerforth's observation; and scrutinized me with a piercing gaze that never faltered, never shrunk.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

But when I'd shouted "Hello" several times in vain an argument broke out behind a partition and presently a lovely Jewess appeared at an interior door and scrutinized me with black hostile eyes.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

I took him into the pantry where he looked a little reproachfully at the Finn. Together we scrutinized the twelve lemon cakes from the delicatessen shop.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)