compunction

American  

[kuhm-puhngk-shuhn] / kəmˈpʌŋk ʃən /

noun

1. a feeling of uneasiness or anxiety of the conscience caused by regret for doing wrong or causing pain; contrition; remorse.

2. any uneasiness or hesitation about the rightness of an action.

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compunction British  

/ kəmˈpʌŋkʃən /

noun

1. a feeling of remorse, guilt, or regret

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Other Word Forms

• compunctionless adjective
• compunctious adjective
• compunctiously adverb

Etymology

Origin of compunction

1350–1400; Middle English compunccion (< Anglo-French ) < Late Latin compūnctiōn- (stem of compūnctiō ), equivalent to Latin compūnct ( us ), past participle of compungere to prick severely ( com- com- + pungere to prick; point ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

To do so, he calculated, would risk ongoing public spats with not just the most powerful man on the planet, but someone with near zero compunction when it comes to spectacularly falling out with people.

From BBC

Still, with their seemingly limitless budget, the Dodgers have shown no compunction against excess.

From The Wall Street Journal

And he has shown that he will have no compunction about doing just that.

From Salon

Party leader Olivier Faure said that he would have no compunction about supporting a new vote of censure, if offending parts of the budget are not removed.

From BBC

They are part of nature, and therefore something that can be mined without compunction.

From Salon