unscrupulous

[uhn-skroo-pyuh-luhs] / ʌnˈskru pyə ləs /

ADJECTIVE

immoral

Synonyms

STRONGEST

corrupt crafty crooked deceitful dishonest illegal petty ruthless selfish shady shameless underhanded unethical venal

WEAK

arrant base casuistic conscienceless degraded degrading disgraceful dishonorable down and dirty exploitative improper low-down mercenary perfidious questionable recreant scandalous scheming self-seeking shifty sinister slippery sly two-faced unconscientious unconscionable underhand unfair unprincipled unworthy wicked wrongful

Antonyms

STRONGEST

aboveboard decent ethical fair frank good honest honorable kind lawful moral open principled right trustworthy truthful upright

WEAK

scrupulous

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

As all those options cost money, what unscrupulous traders actually do is either illegally burn the clothes, or illegally dump them out in the surrounding Atacama Desert.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026

Green Party leader Zack Polanski said: "It's disgusting to see these unscrupulous law firms taking advantage of people like this or taking advantage of a system like this."

From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026

Some unscrupulous businesses are seeing it as an opportunity.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

When the Justice Department and the IRS go after unscrupulous preparers, they often obtain plea deals in exchange for the preparer’s cooperation.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 27, 2026

“Perhaps,” said Scythe Curie, “but then again, perhaps not. There are some traditions not even the unscrupulous among us would dare break.”

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

Vocabulary lists containing unscrupulous

The Catcher in the Rye

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Power Prefix: un-

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Grade 10, List 6

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