Demur vs Compunction - What's the difference?
demur | compunction | Synonyms |
(obsolete) To linger; to stay; to tarry
* Nicols
To delay; to pause; to suspend proceedings or judgment in view of a doubt or difficulty; to hesitate; to put off the determination or conclusion of an affair.
* Hayward
To scruple or object; to take exception; to oppose; to balk
(legal) To interpose a demurrer.
(obsolete) To suspend judgment concerning; to doubt of or hesitate about
(obsolete) To cause delay to; to put off
* Quarles
Stop; pause; hesitation as to proceeding; suspense of decision or action; scruple.
* 2004 , (Richard Fortey), The Earth , Folio Society 2011, p. 132:
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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, "
Demur is a synonym of compunction.
As nouns the difference between demur and compunction
is that demur is stop; pause; hesitation as to proceeding; suspense of decision or action; scruple while compunction is a pricking of conscience or a feeling of regret, especially one which is slight or fleeting.As a verb demur
is (obsolete) to linger; to stay; to tarry.demur
English
Verb
(demurr)- Yet durst not demur nor abide upon the camp.
- Upon this rub, the English embassadors thought fit to demur .
- I demur to that statement.
- The personnel demurred at the management's new scheme.
- The latter I demur , for in their looks / Much reason, and in their actions, oft appears. -
- He demands a fee, / And then demurs me with a vain delay.
Noun
(en noun)- All my demurs but double his attacks; At last he whispers, ``Do; and we go snacks.'' -
- Most geologists today would accept such evidence without demur , but it was still ‘fringe’ science when du Toit was publishing.
Derived terms
* demurenessReferences
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.
