conscience-stricken
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of conscience-stricken
First recorded in 1810–20
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He would later portray himself as a conscience-stricken and unwilling participant in Hitler’s crimes, and his gamble on the sympathy of the judges at Nuremberg paid off.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
Before seeing the work, I assumed that the author was picking a fight with Arthur Miller, whose play “The Crucible” immortalized the historical figure of John Proctor as a conscience-stricken hero.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2025
Most of those who did get out were rescued only by the initiative of conscience-stricken troops and diplomats in Kabul, and by a loose network of tireless volunteers working around-the-clock stateside.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 1, 2022
In “Please Give,” Keener’s character—a conscience-stricken dealer of mid-century-modern furniture that she buys from children of the recently deceased—leaves a restaurant and offers her leftovers to an elderly African-American man standing outside.
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 30, 2018
Harriet, conscience-stricken, believing that her prayers had killed Edward Brodas, ignored the fear in the voices, the faces, of the slaves.
From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
