See Also: Conscience(medicine)
conscience(dictionary)
conscience(dictionary)
CONSCIENCE(law)
conscience-stricken(dictionary)
prisoner of conscience(dictionary)
social conscience(dictionary)
COURT OF CONSCIENCE, Eng(law)

conscience (oh)



[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: Latin conscientia, from conscire 'to be conscious (of being guilty)', from com- ( COM-) + scire 'to know']
the part of your mind that tells you whether what you are doing is morally right or wrong
guilty/troubled conscience
(=a guilty feeling, because you have done something wrong)
::It was his guilty conscience that made him offer to help.
::Well, at least I can face them all with a clear conscience (=when you know that you have done nothing wrong) .
::a film with a social conscience (=a moral sense of how society should be)
prisoner of conscience
(=someone who is in prison because of their political or religious beliefs)
::I can't tell you what to do - it's a matter of conscience (=something that you must make a moral judgment 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)
::The dog's sad look pricked her conscience (=made her feel guilty) and she took him home.
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 sth)
(=not feel guilty about something)
::They've no conscience at all about cheating.
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?
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.
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HINT sense 1
Do not confuse with consciousness (=the condition of being awake and aware of thoughts and feelings).