conscience
the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action: to follow the dictates of conscience.
the complex of ethical and moral principles that controls or inhibits the actions or thoughts of an individual.
an inhibiting sense of what is prudent: I'd eat another piece of pie but my conscience would bother me.
Obsolete. consciousness; self-knowledge.
Obsolete. strict and reverential observance.
Idioms about conscience
Origin of conscience
1Other words from conscience
- con·science·less, adjective
- con·science·less·ly, adverb
- con·science·less·ness, noun
- sub·con·science, noun
Words that may be confused with conscience
- conscience , conscious
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use conscience in a sentence
Remember, corporations have religious consciences now, thanks to Hobby Lobby.
RFRA Madness: What’s Next for Anti-Democratic ‘Religious Exemptions’ | Jay Michaelson | November 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut for Reynolds and Robbins, obeying their consciences came with a price tag.
We were told to fear these hooded men and so many of us threw away our 9/10/2001 consciences.
So what about this idea that not only are corporations people, but people with consciences?
Contraception Looks Like a Loser at the Supreme Court | Jay Michaelson | March 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFirst, the Court will have to decide that corporations are not only people, but people with consciences.
Do Corporations Believe in God? The ‘Hobby Lobby’ Case Has the Answer | Jay Michaelson | March 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
In reference to this, as well as to any other matter inculcated upon them, their consciences will either approve or condemn them.
The Ordinance of Covenanting | John CunninghamIt was a device by which thousands have tried to salve their consciences, and to try to find an excuse for wrong-doing.
The Everlasting Arms | Joseph HockingThe shopkeeper and his wife, drawn two ways by pity and self-interest, began by lulling their consciences with words.
An Episode Under the Terror | Honore de BalzacTheir consciences told them both that either wished to conceal from the other his wickedness and forgetfulness of God.
Eric, or Little by Little | Frederic W. FarrarThen their consciences were moved, and they saw a punishment for their crime in selling Joseph fifteen years before.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume II | John Lord
British Dictionary definitions for conscience
/ (ˈkɒnʃəns) /
the sense of right and wrong that governs a person's thoughts and actions
regulation of one's actions in conformity to this sense
a supposed universal faculty of moral insight
conscientiousness; diligence
a feeling of guilt or anxiety: he has a conscience about his unkind action
obsolete consciousness
in conscience or in all conscience
with regard to truth and justice
certainly
on one's conscience causing feelings of guilt or remorse
Origin of conscience
1Derived forms of conscience
- conscienceless, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with conscience
see have a clear conscience; in conscience.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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