conscience

noun

con·​science ˈkän(t)-shən(t)s 

1

a

: the sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one's own conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good

She had a guilty conscience.

b

: a faculty, power, or principle enjoining good acts

guided by conscience

c

: the part of the superego in psychoanalysis that transmits commands and admonitions to the ego

2

: conformity to what one considers to be correct, right, or morally good : conscientiousness

3

: sensitive regard for fairness or justice : scruple

a wealthy man with no conscience

4

archaic : consciousness

conscienceless

ˈkän(t)-shən(t)s-ləs 

adjective

Phrases

in all conscience or in conscience

: in all fairness

She could not in all conscience remain silent.

Examples of conscience in a Sentence

… it is a politician's natural instinct to avoid taking any stand that seems controversial unless and until the voters demand it or conscience absolutely requires it. —Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, 2006

We like to imagine literature as the still, small voice of human conscience. It is that only rarely, however. Actively and passively, it has always borne along pernicious ideas. —Marilynne Robinson, New York Times Book Review, 15 Mar. 1987

So she had lied to him, but so had he to her, they were quits on that score and his conscience was calm. —Bernard Malamud, The Magic Barrel, (1950) 1958

The rat had no morals, no conscience, no scruples, no consideration, no decency … —E. B. White, Charlotte's Web, 1952

The thief must have had an attack of conscience, because he returned the wallet with nothing missing from it.

Recent Examples on the Web

At a second reading next month, MPs will be given a free vote, as euthanasia is considered a matter of conscience. —Harriet Marsden, theweek, 16 Oct. 2024

Toward the end of the journey, my second-guessing snowballed into a crisis of conscience. —Chris Wallace, Travel + Leisure, 16 Oct. 2024

The execution of Marcellus Williams, who was put to death by the state of Missouri last week over the protests of a prosecutor and the family of the woman he was convicted of murdering, exemplifies why the death penalty is a stain on the conscience of this country. —Robin Abcarian, The Mercury News, 4 Oct. 2024

Yet he seems afflicted by pangs of conscience over the uses to which his fans put his fame—and his efforts to escape from it involve making use of it again. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin conscientia, from conscient-, consciens, present participle of conscire to be conscious, be conscious of guilt, from com- + scire to know — more at science

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing conscience

• clear conscience
• conscience money
• conscience-stricken
• guilty/troubled conscience
• matter of (individual) conscience
• on one's conscience
• prisoner of conscience
• social conscience
• vote one's conscience

Kids Definition

conscience

noun

con·​science ˈkän-chən(t)s 

: knowledge of right and wrong and a feeling one should do what is right

Medical Definition

conscience

noun

con·​science ˈkän-chən(t)s 

: the part of the superego in psychoanalysis that transmits commands and admonitions to the ego

Legal Definition

conscience

adjective

con·​science

: exempting persons whose religious beliefs forbid compliance

conscience laws, which allow physicians…to refuse to participate in abortions

—W. J. Curran