The words "scrutiny" and "scrutinize" come from the Latin scrutari, meaning "to search, to examine, to investigate."

In English, "scrutiny" first meant "the formal process of taking a vote by counting each individual vote." This would be necessary if, say, you'd already asked for a show of hands, but then it wasn't entirely clear which way the vote had gone. You'd then resort to scrutiny: to the process of counting the votes one by one, looking closer to determine the correct outcome.

After a couple hundred years of this, "scrutiny" grew to mean, more generally, "a process of looking closer to understand or analyze something."

And so, if you scrutinize someone or something, you look at it and judge it in a very careful, thorough, critical way, as if you're trying to make sure that it's all correct or acceptable, or as if you're trying to find even the smallest mistakes.

Take "scrutiny" and "scrutinize," and add the Greek prefix hyper-, meaning "above, beyond, or too much," and you get the fairly new words "hyperscrutiny" and "hyperscrutinize." You won't find these in dictionaries yet—they're too new—but everyone will know what you mean by them.

Hyperscrutiny is way too much analysis: a process of looking way too closely at things. And to hyperscrutinize people or things is to look at them way too closely, in way too much detail. When scrutiny seems to go overboard, especially in a way that shows mistrust toward people or an eagerness to catch them making tiny errors, call it hyperscrutiny.

Part of speech:

"Scrutinize" and "hyperscrutinize" are verbs, the transitive kind: "I scrutinized my outfit;" "As inflation gets worse, I'm hyperscrutinizing our grocery receipts."

"Scrutiny" and "hyperscrutiny" are nouns, the uncountable kind: "He performs well even under scrutiny;" "It's a good argument and will stand up under scrutiny;" "I hated being under the manager's hyperscrutiny."

Other forms: 

I doubt you'll need many of these, but let's be thorough!

Scrutinized, scrutinizing, scrutinizingly; 
scrutinizer(s);
scrutinous, scrutinously;
hyperscrutinized,* hyperscrutinizing,* hyperscrutinizingly;*
hyperscrutinizer(s);*
hyperscrutinous,* hyperscrutinously.*

* These words haven't entered dictionaries yet. Don't let that stop you from using them!

how to use them:

"Scrutiny" and "scrutinize" are formal, serious, common words.

They generally have a negative tone: "She scrutinized my face as if suspecting I was lying."

But they can be neutral: "I stood by the avocados, poking them and scrutinizing their skins."

Or even positive: "We subject our work to the utmost scrutiny to ensure customer satisfaction."

Because scrutinizing things is often a bossy, judgmental move, as if you're looking down on people and their work, we often talk about people and their work being under scrutiny. Or about things coming under scrutiny, or holding up or falling apart under scrutiny. We can also talk about people withstanding scrutiny, resenting scrutiny, avoiding scrutiny and so on.

Like I mentioned, "hyperscrutiny" and "hyperscrutinize" are new words: so new that you won't find them in 2022 dictionaries, but let's check back on that later! Still, they're easily understandable, so feel free to complain about people's hyperscrutiny and about people who hyperscrutinize things.

examples:

"Smith scrutinized the horse from head to toe." 
   — Laura Hillenbrand, Seabiscuit: An American Legend, 1999

"The root cause of the problem [of the nationwide shortage of teachers] is a longstanding overall lack of respect for teachers and their craft, which is reflected by decades of low pay, hyperscrutiny and poor working conditions."
   — Henry Tran and Douglas A. Smith, The Conversation, 8 August 2022

has this page helped you understand these words?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about these words, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study them:

Explain the meaning of "scrutinize" and "hyperscrutinize" without saying "overanalyze" or "fall into analysis paralysis."

try them out:

Scrutiny is often a bad thing, but it doesn't have to be.

As my dad taught me, it's a good idea to scrutinize your paperwork when you make a big purchase, like a car or a home. Little miscalculations tend to surface, helping you save money and avoid being cheated.

With that in mind as an example, talk about another situation in which scrutiny, or even hyperscrutiny, is a good idea.

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Name that Sketchplanation!"

Check out the sketch below, created by Jono Hey at Sketchplanations.com.

Focus on the title, and see if you can come up with the word or phrase that belongs in the blurry spot. It'll be one we've studied before.

See the answer on the original Sketchplanation!

And if you like, review the word here.

review these words:

1. A near opposite of SCRUTINY is

A. EUPHONY (beauty of sound).
B. DEVIOUSNESS (a sneaky, tricky dishonesty).
C. OBLIVIOUSNESS (a total unawareness of what's happening).

2. In motor racing, scrutineers are people who _____; and, in elections, scrutators are people who _____.

A. manipulate bets .. vote illegally
B. inspect the vehicles .. investigate procedures
C. fire up the crowds .. encourage everyone to vote

Answers to the review questions: 1. C 2. B

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.