conscience
[noun]
Synonyms: principles, moral sense, scruples, sense of right and wrong, still small voice

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English Thesaurus: guilt, shame, regret, remorse, contrition, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

con‧science /ˈkɒnʃəns $ ˈkɑːn-/ noun [uncountable and countable]
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: Latin conscientia, from conscire 'to be conscious (of being guilty)', from com- ( ⇒ COM-) + scire 'to know']

1. the part of your mind that tells you whether what you are doing is morally right or wrong
a guilty/troubled conscience
It was his guilty conscience that made him offer to help.
Well, at least I can face them all with a clear conscience (=the knowledge that you have done nothing wrong).
prisoner of conscience (=someone in prison because of their beliefs)
I can’t tell you what to do – it’s a matter of conscience (=something you must make a moral judgement about).
a crisis of conscience among medical staff (=a situation in which it is very difficult to decide what is the right thing to do)
► Do not confuse with consciousness (=the condition of being awake and aware of things).

2. a guilty feeling that you have about something bad you have done
twinge/pang of conscience
Ian felt a pang of conscience at having misjudged her.
have no conscience (about something) (=not feel guilty about something)
They’ve no conscience at all about cheating.

3. on your conscience if you have something on your conscience, it makes you feel guilty:
He didn’t want somebody’s death on his conscience.
Could you live with that on your conscience?

4. not in (all/good) conscience formal if you cannot in all conscience do something, you cannot do it because you think it is wrong:
I couldn’t in all conscience tell him that his job was safe.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

conscience
noun
ADJ. clear, easy, good I have a clear conscience.
bad, guilty, terrible, troubled, uneasy | civic, moral, political, social a government with no social conscience
VERB + CONSCIENCE have He had no conscience about taking his brother's money.
appease, ease, salve, soothe After the feast she spent a week dieting to salve her conscience.
prick, trouble | appeal to, arouse, rouse, stir | wrestle with He wrestled with his conscience all night long.
CONSCIENCE + VERB trouble sb Her conscience was troubling her a little.
dictate sth My conscience dictates that I resign.
PREP. on your ~ I'm sure she has something on her conscience. It was on his conscience that he hadn't called her.
PHRASES a crisis of conscience, freedom of conscience, in (all/good) conscience (= honestly) We cannot in all conscience refuse to help.
a matter of conscience This question is a matter of individual conscience.
a pang/prick/twinge of conscience I had a sudden pang of conscience that I really ought to tell the truth.
the voice of conscience She refused to listen to the voice of conscience.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

conscience

a clear conscience (=the knowledge that you have done nothing wrong)
I was able to answer his questions with a clear conscience.
a guilty/troubled conscience (=the knowledge that you have done something wrong)
His guilty conscience kept him awake at night.
a social conscience (=a moral sense of how society should be or how you can help it)
The writer’s strong social conscience is obvious in all his novels.
a moral conscience (=an idea of what is right and wrong)
At what age do children develop a moral conscience?
the public conscience (=people’s idea of what is right or wrong)
This scandal shocked the public conscience.
the individual conscience
Decisions like this are a matter for the individual conscience.
the human conscience
The human conscience is a product of civilization.
have a clear/guilty etc conscience
Does he have a guilty conscience about his role in the crime?
wrestle/struggle with your conscience (=struggle to decide whether it is right or wrong do something)
She wrestled with her conscience for weeks before deciding not to leave him.
prick sb’s conscience (=make somebody feel guilty)
Some of the things he’d done still pricked his conscience.
be a matter of conscience (=something that you must make a moral judgment about)
Whether you vote or not is a matter of conscience.
a crisis of conscience (=a situation in which it is very difficult to decide what is the right thing to do)
He had a crisis of conscience about whether to take on the legal case.
the voice of conscience (=something in your mind that tells you what is right and wrong)
Other leaders urged him to listen to the voice of conscience and hold free elections.
a prisoner of conscience (=someone who is in prison because they have followed their beliefs about what is right or morally good to do)
Vaclav Havel was a prisoner of conscience who later became president of Czechoslovakia.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

guilt the feeling you have when you have done something you know is wrong:
Divorce often leaves people with feelings of guilt.
shame the feeling of being guilty or embarrassed that you have after doing something that is wrong, when you feel you have lost people’s respect:
I was too scared to help him, and I was filled with shame.
regret a feeling of sadness about something, especially because you wish it had not happened:
Kate watched her go with a pang of regret.
remorse a strong feeling of being sorry for doing something very bad:
a murderer who showed no remorse
contrition formal a feeling of being guilty and sorry for something wrong that you have done:
The company CEO expressed contrition for the errors that led to the crash.
He sounded full of contrition.
They wanted to perform some kind of act of contrition (=do something that shows you feel sorry for something ).
penitence formal a feeling of being sorry for something that you have done wrong, when you do not intend to do it again:
He expressed genuine penitence at the harm he had done her.
a period of reflection and penitence
conscience the part of your mind that tells you whether what you are doing is morally right or wrong:
My conscience has been troubling me ever since.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲