con ‧ science /ˈkɒnʃ ə ns $ ˈkɑːn-/ BrE AmE 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.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ 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.
■ verbs
▪ 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.
■ phrases
▪ 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.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ 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.