conscience-stricken

American  

[kon-shuhns-strik-uhn] / ˈkɒn ʃənsˌstrɪk ən /

adjective

1. greatly troubled or disturbed by the knowledge of having acted wrongfully.

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conscience-stricken British  

adjective

1. Also: conscience-smitten.  feeling anxious or guilty

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Etymology

Origin of conscience-stricken

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

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

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

The production, executed to perfection, starred Ron Bottitta and Patrick Keleher as the radicalized father and his conscience-stricken son in a tense dramatic standoff that told a story about America we’re still convulsively living through.

From Los Angeles Times

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

It’s to this rigorously intellectual and self-questioning filmmaker’s credit that he doesn’t present these parts of his oeuvre as anything but conscience-stricken stabs at making sense of it all.

From Los Angeles Times