conscience

conscience — noun

1. the internal sense inside a person that judges if their behaviour is good or bad

1.nounB2
Definition

the internal sense inside a person that judges if their behaviour is good or bad and produces a feeling of guilt whenever they do something wrong

Example

Isabela could not take the money because her conscience told her it was stealing.

conscience + tell [person] + clause — moral judgment expressed as speech

A guilty conscience kept Hao awake after he lied to his mother about the vase.

collocation: guilty conscience

Common collocations
  • guilty conscience
  • clear conscience / clean conscience
  • conscience tells / pricks / troubles
  • social conscience
  • political conscience
  • have the conscience to do something
Synonyms
  • moral sense

    more formal and less emotional than 'conscience'; used in philosophy

  • inner voice

    a more poetic or metaphorical term; conscience is the actual faculty, not just a momentary feeling

  • sense of right and wrong

    a descriptive phrase rather than a single-word synonym; broader and less personal

Grammar Patterns

often used with possessive adjective: my/his/her/their conscience

conscience + tell(s) + [person] + clause

Usage Note

Frequently used with possessive adjectives (my conscience, his conscience). Common fixed expressions include 'guilty conscience' (feeling bad about something wrong you did) and 'clear conscience' (feeling that you have done nothing wrong). The moral judgment is often described as speaking to the person: 'my conscience tells me…'

Common Mistakes

My conscious tells me it is wrong.
My conscience tells me it is wrong.
'conscious' is an adjective meaning 'awake or aware'; 'conscience' is the noun for the inner moral sense.
I have conscience.
I have a conscience.' or 'My conscience tells me…
the noun is typically used with a possessive adjective or article, not bare.

2. the practice of acting according to what you believe is right and good, particul

2.nounC1
Definition

the practice of acting according to what you believe is right and good, particularly when doing so requires personal courage or sacrifice

Example

Ravindra refused to work for the tobacco company as a matter of conscience.

phrase: a matter of conscience

Élise followed her conscience and told the truth, even though it cost her job.

pattern: follow one's conscience

Common collocations
  • a matter of conscience
  • according to one's conscience
  • follow one's conscience
  • prisoner of conscience
  • freedom of conscience
Synonyms
  • moral principle

    refers to a specific rule or belief rather than the internal faculty itself

  • conviction

    a firmly held belief, often political or religious; stronger than conscience in suggesting defiance

  • conscientiousness

    the quality of being careful and thorough, more about diligence than moral rightness

Grammar Patterns

often in the phrase 'a matter of conscience'

verb + according to one's conscience

Usage Note

Often appears in the fixed phrase 'a matter of conscience' to state that a decision is based on moral principle. Also common in 'prisoner of conscience' — a person imprisoned for their political or religious beliefs.

Common Mistakes

He did it by conscience.
He did it according to his conscience.' or 'He did it as a matter of conscience.
'by conscience' is not idiomatic; use 'according to' or 'as a matter of'.

3. an uncomfortable feeling of guilt or regret that comes from knowing you did some

3.nounB2
Definition

an uncomfortable feeling of guilt or regret that comes from knowing you did something wrong or neglected a responsibility you should have met

Example

Minh felt a pang of conscience after lying about where he had been that evening.

collocation: pang of conscience

Ava's conscience bothered her for days after she said something cruel to her younger sister.

conscience + bother [person] — the feeling as an active force

Common collocations
  • pang of conscience
  • twinge of conscience
  • guilty conscience
  • conscience bothers / troubles / weighs on
  • ease one's conscience
Synonyms
  • guilt

    a more direct emotional word; 'conscience' in this sense implies the feeling arises from your own moral judgment, whereas 'guilt' can also be imposed by others

  • remorse

    deeper and includes regret and a wish to undo the harm; conscience may be present without full remorse

  • compunction

    a formal term for a slight feeling of guilt; narrower and less common

Grammar Patterns

often in the phrase 'a pang/twinge of conscience'

conscience + bothers/troubles/weighs on

Usage Note

Common in the fixed expressions 'a pang/twinge of conscience' (a sudden brief guilty feeling) and 'a guilty conscience'. This sense focuses on the painful feeling itself rather than the moral faculty that produces it — distinguish from Sense 1 by whether the focus is on the inner judge (Sense 1) or the resulting discomfort (Sense 3).

Common Mistakes

I have a guilty conscience for eating the cake.' (when the feeling is mild)
I felt a pang of conscience after eating the cake.
'a guilty conscience' suggests a lasting burden; for a momentary feeling, use 'a pang/twinge of conscience.'
Idioms

in (all/good) conscience

idiom

honestly and fairly, without doing anything that goes against your moral beliefs — used when saying you cannot do something because it would be wrong

I cannot in good conscience recommend a product that I know is dangerous for children.

The judge could not in all conscience send a teenager to prison for such a small mistake.

on your conscience

idiom

causing you to feel guilty or responsible for something bad that happened

The lie she told her grandmother has been on her conscience for many years.

Yusuf knew the accident was not his fault, but it was still on his conscience.

prick your conscience

idiom

to make you feel guilty or uncomfortable about something, especially causing you to change your behaviour

Seeing the old woman sleeping on the street pricked her conscience and she offered to buy her a meal.

The film about how farm animals are treated pricked his conscience and he became a vegetarian the next week.

Word family

  • conscientious
    adjectiveC1
  • conscientiously
    adverbC1
  • conscientiousness
    nounC2
  • conscience-stricken
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Conscience (noun/1) is the inner faculty that judges whether your actions are right or wrong and produces feelings of approval or guilt. Guilt is the emotional state that results from that judgment — you feel guilt because your conscience tells you that you did wrong. Remorse goes further than guilt: it includes deep regret and a desire to undo the harm. A person can have a guilty conscience without feeling remorse if they regret being caught rather than the act itself. A scruple is a specific hesitation or doubt before doing something, often a small moral question; it is narrower than conscience, which is an ongoing sense of right and wrong. A moral compass is a metaphor for the internal direction that guides ethical choices; conscience is the actual psychological faculty that not only guides but also judges and produces emotional consequences. For example: 'His conscience told him the plan was dishonest' (inner faculty); 'He felt guilt after carrying it out' (resulting emotion); 'He had scruples about lying but did it anyway' (hesitation before the act); 'His moral compass pointed him toward honesty' (directional metaphor).

guiltremorsescruplemoral compass

Common collocations

Nouns

  • pang
  • twinge
  • weight
  • voice
  • freedom

Phrases

  • a matter of conscience
  • prisoner of conscience
  • freedom of conscience
  • in good conscience
  • on one's conscience

Prepositions

  • about
  • in
  • of
  • on

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Conscience comes from Latin 'conscientia' meaning 'knowledge within oneself, awareness of right and wrong'. This was formed from 'com-' (together, with) and 'scire' (to know). The word entered English through Old French in the 1200s and has always carried the core idea of inner moral knowledge.