Conscience vs Compunction - What's the difference?
conscience | compunction |
The moral sense of right and wrong, chiefly as it affects one's own behaviour.
* 1949 , , as quoted by Virgil Henshaw in Albert Einstein: Philosopher Scientist ,
* 1951 , (Isaac Asimov), publication), part V: “The Merchant Princes”, chapter 14, page 175, ¶ 7
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=18 (chiefly fiction) A personification of the moral sense of right and wrong, usually in the form of a person, a being or merely a voice that gives moral lessons and advices.
(obsolete) Consciousness; thinking; awareness, especially self-awareness.
* 1603 , (William Shakespeare), (Hamlet) , act 3, scene 1,
A pricking of conscience or a feeling of regret, especially one which is slight or fleeting.
* :
* 1897 , , Dracula , ch. 3:
* 1920 , , Women in Love , ch. 8:
* 2003 February 16, Blaine Greteman, "
As nouns the difference between conscience and compunction
is that conscience is the moral sense of right and wrong, chiefly as it affects one's own behaviour while compunction is a pricking of conscience or a feeling of regret, especially one which is slight or fleeting.conscience
English
(wikipedia conscience)Noun
(en noun)- Never do anything against conscience , even if the state demands it.
- [“]Twer is not a friend of mine testifying against me reluctantly and for conscience ’ sake, as the prosecution would have you believe. He is a spy, performing his paid job.[”]
citation, passage=‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience ,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police […]? Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?}}
- Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
- And thus the native hue of resolution
- Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought.
Usage notes
* Adjectives often used with "conscience": good, bad, guilty. * Phrases: To make conscience of, To make a matter of conscience, to act according to the dictates of conscience concerning (any matter), or to scruple to act contrary to its dictates.Derived terms
* consciencelike * conscience money * conscience vote * conscientious * make conscience * pang of conscienceSee also
* synteresisExternal links
* * ----compunction
English
Noun
(en noun)- [H]e would have had no compunction whatever in flinging him out of the highest window in Venice into the deepest water of the city.
- I felt no compunction in doing so, for under the circumstances I felt that I should protect myself in every way I could.
- But he felt, later, a little compunction . He had been violent, cruel with poor Hermione. He wanted to recompense her, to make it up.
No Peace Dividend," Time :
- As for average U.S. consumers, they've shown little compunction about buying diamonds that fund bloody militias in Africa.
