COMPUNCTION

compunction, remorse, self-reproach

(noun) a feeling of deep regret (usually for some misdeed)

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

compunction (countable and uncountable, plural compunctions)

A pricking of conscience or a feeling of regret, especially one which is slight or fleeting.

Synonyms: qualm, regret, remorse, Thesaurus:remorse

Source: Wiktionary

Com*punc"tion, n. Etym: [OF. compunction, F. componction, L. compunctio, fr. compungere, compunctum, to prick; com- + pungere to prick, sting. See Pungent.]

1. A pricking; stimulation. [Obs.] That acid piecering spirit which, with such activity and compunction, invadeth the brains and nostrils. Sir T. Browne.

2. A picking of heart; poignant grief proceeding from a sense of guilt or consciousness of causing pain; the sting of conscience. He acknowledged his disloyalty to the king, with expressions of great compunction. Clarendon.

Syn.

– Compunction, Remorse, Contrition. Remorse is anguish of soul under a sense of guilt or consciousness of having offened God or brought evil upon one's self or others. Compunction is the pain occasioned by a wounded and awakened conscience. Neither of them implies true contrition, which denotes self-condemnation, humiliation, and repentance. We speak of the gnawings of remorse; of compunction for a specific act of transgression; of deep contrition in view of our past lives. See Regret.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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