Unscrutinized

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Not critically examined or thoroughly investigated
2. Lacking in careful observation or detailed analysis
3. Characterized by a lack of scrutiny or inspection, often leading to unchallenged assumptions

Etymology: "Unscrutinized" is a plain formation: the prefix "un-", meaning "not", attached to "scrutinized," the past participle of "scrutinize." The prefix traces back through Old English and Proto-Germanic to a very old root shared by many Germanic languages, where it always carried the sense of negation or reversal. The base word "scrutinize" comes from the Latin "scrutari," meaning "to search" or "to examine closely," a verb derived from "scrutinium," which referred to a careful search or inspection. So "unscrutinized" describes something that has not been looked at with that kind of close, searching attention. The meaning follows directly from its parts, with no change of sense along the way.

Synonyms: unchecked, unexamined, uninvestigated

Antonyms: scrutinized, examined, investigated