Both Uses of
scrupulous
in
Crime and Punishment, by Dostoyevsky
- I only wanted to find out what sort of man you are, for so many unscrupulous people have got hold of the progressive cause of late and have so distorted in their own interests everything they touched, that the whole cause has been dragged in the mire.†
Chpt 2.5unscrupulous = unethicalstandard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unscrupulous means not and reverses the meaning of scrupulous. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
- He washed that morning scrupulously—he got some soap from Nastasya—he washed his hair, his neck and especially his hands.
Chpt 3.2 *scrupulously = with careful diligence
Definition:
careful to behave ethically and/or diligently (with great care and attention to detail)