scruple vs skepticism

scruple

noun
  • Hesitation to act from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; doubt, hesitation or unwillingness due to motives of conscience. 

  • A weight of ¹⁄₂₈₈ of a pound, that is, twenty grains or one third of a dram, about 1.3 grams (symbol: ℈). 

  • A Hebrew unit of time equal to ¹⁄₁₀₈₀ hour. 

verb
  • To excite scruples in; to cause to scruple. 

  • To hesitate or be reluctant to act due to considerations of conscience or expedience. 

  • To regard with suspicion; to question. 

skepticism

noun
  • A studied attitude of questioning and doubt 

  • Doubt or disbelief of religious doctrines 

  • The practice or philosophy of being a skeptic. 

  • The doctrine that absolute knowledge is not possible 

  • A methodology that starts from a neutral standpoint and aims to acquire certainty though scientific or logical observation. 

How often have the words scruple and skepticism occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )