consciencecon‧science /ˈkɒnʃəns $ ˈkɑːn-/ ●●○ noun [countable, uncountable] 
It was his guilty conscience that made him offer to help. Well, at least I can face them all with a clear conscience (=the knowledge that you have done nothing wrong).prisoner of conscience (=someone in prison because of their beliefs) I can’t tell you what to do – it’s a matter of conscience (=something you must make a moral judgement about). a crisis of conscience among medical staff (=a situation in which it is very difficult to decide what is the right thing to do) ► Do not confuse with consciousness (=the condition of being awake and aware of things).2a guilty feeling that you have about something bad you have donetwinge/pang of conscience Ian felt a pang of conscience at having misjudged her.have no conscience (about something) (=not feel guilty about something) They’ve no conscience at all about cheating.3on your conscience if you have something on your conscience, it makes you feel guilty: He didn’t want somebody’s death on his conscience. Could you live with that on your conscience?4not in (all/good) conscience formal if you cannot in all conscience do something, you cannot do it because you think it is wrong: I couldn’t in all conscience tell him that his job was safe.COLLOCATIONSadjectivesa clear conscience (=the knowledge that you have done nothing wrong)· I was able to answer his questions with a clear conscience.a guilty/troubled conscience (=the knowledge that you have done something wrong)· His guilty conscience kept him awake at night.a social conscience (=a moral sense of how society should be or how you can help it)· The writer’s strong social conscience is obvious in all his novels.a moral conscience (=an idea of what is right and wrong)· At what age do children develop a moral conscience?the public conscience (=people’s idea of what is right or wrong)· This scandal shocked the public conscience.the individual conscience· Decisions like this are a matter for the individual conscience.the human conscience· The human conscience is a product of civilization.verbshave a clear/guilty etc conscience· Does he have a guilty conscience about his role in the crime?wrestle/struggle with your conscience (=struggle to decide whether it is right or wrong do something)· She wrestled with her conscience for weeks before deciding not to leave him.prick somebody’s conscience (=make someone feel guilty)· Some of the things he’d done still pricked his conscience.phrasesbe a matter of conscience (=something that you must make a moral judgment about)· Whether you vote or not is a matter of conscience.a crisis of conscience (=a situation in which it is very difficult to decide what is the right thing to do)· He had a crisis of conscience about whether to take on the legal case.the voice of conscience (=something in your mind that tells you what is right and wrong)· Other leaders urged him to listen to the voice of conscience and hold free elections.a prisoner of conscience (=someone who is in prison because they have followed their beliefs about what is right or morally good to do)· Vaclav Havel was a prisoner of conscience who later became president of Czechoslovakia.
WORD ORIGINconscience
Origin:
1200-1300 Old French, Latin conscientia, from conscire ‘to be conscious (of being guilty)’, from com- ( ➔ COM-) + scire ‘to know’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- He was a man of strong social conscience, who actively campaigned against poverty in all its forms.
- He was capable of making the most ruthless decisions with no apparent pangs of conscience.
- Her conscience would not let her take all the credit for their work.
- Her murderer was a psychopath with a total lack of conscience.
- I have to do what my conscience tells me.
- It was a guilty conscience that made him admit stealing the money.
- Marie got up especially early to do all her work so that she could enjoy herself afterwards with a clear conscience.
- Parker displayed a remarkable lack of conscience about what he had done.
- She hurried home, conscience- stricken about having left all the dishes for Natalie to do.
- As adults we have active consciences which help us do the right thing.
- Great issues of conscience are thrashed out in impassioned, eloquent language.
- His conscience warred with the whispered promises of the semi-sentient sword.
- However the appointment of staff to fill the new posts meant that our overall complement was little changed and consciences were salved.
- Later Protestantism favoured liberty of conscience.
- They acted out of a conscience that patriots despised but at least could understand.
- They affected him not only as a man of conscience but as a politician.
- What we gain from this is obvious: our own consciences are clear, and we're no longer implicated.
THESAURUS
the feeling you have when you have done something you know is wrong: · Divorce often leaves people with feelings of guilt.
the feeling of being guilty or embarrassed that you have after doing something that is wrong, when you feel you have lost people’s respect: · I was too scared to help him, and I was filled with shame.
a feeling of sadness about something, especially because you wish it had not happened: · Kate watched her go with a pang of regret.
a strong feeling of being sorry for doing something very bad: · a murderer who showed no remorse
formal a feeling of being guilty and sorry for something wrong that you have done: · The company CEO expressed contrition for the errors that led to the crash.· He sounded full of contrition.· They wanted to perform some kind of act of contrition (=do something that shows you feel sorry for something).
formal a feeling of being sorry for something that you have done wrong, when you do not intend to do it again: · He expressed genuine penitence at the harm he had done her.· a period of reflection and penitence
the part of your mind that tells you whether what you are doing is morally right or wrong: · My conscience has been troubling me ever since.
Longman Language Activatoryour personal ideas about what is right or wrong the inner sense of what is right or wrong that makes you feel guilty if you do something wrong: · Her conscience would not let her take all the credit for their work.guilty/bad conscience: · It was a guilty conscience that made him admit stealing the money.clear/good conscience: · Marie got up especially early to do all her work so that she could enjoy herself afterwards with a clear conscience.social/political etc conscience (=a moral sense of how society should be): · He was a man of strong social conscience, who actively campaigned against poverty in all its forms.conscience-stricken (=feeling guilty because you have done something wrong): · She hurried home, conscience-stricken about having left all the dishes for Natalie to do.
personal moral principles that stop you from doing something morally wrong - use this especially about someone who does not have moral principles: · He is very ambitious and has absolutely no scruples.· These large drug syndicates are not affected by moral scruples -- they just want to make a profit.
strong ideas about what is morally right and wrong, that you try to follow in everything that you do: · Jimmy tried to live according to Christian principles.· Does she have any principles at all?against somebody's principles (=morally wrong to that person): · I won't get involved in a deal like this -- it's against all my principles.
a guilty feeling the feeling you have when you have done something that you know is wrong: · Guilt can be a very destructive emotion.feeling of guilt: · People often have feelings of guilt after a divorce.
the guilty feeling that you have when you know that you have behaved badly and lost people's respect: · Voting through cuts in benefits to the poorest people is a matter of shame for all of us.shame about: · Too many women are taught to feel guilt or shame about sex.shame at: · As he left the house, Mungo felt a pang of shame at telling Alice a lie.almost die of shame (=be very ashamed): · The next day I remembered how drunk I'd been , and almost died of shame.bring shame on somebody: · Some girls feel that refusing their parents' choice of husband will bring shame on their family.
a feeling of being very sorry for something bad that you have done, so that you wish you had not done it: · He admitted killing the man but showed no sign of remorse.remorse for: · She was full of remorse for hurting her family.remorse at: · Many men are afflicted with guilt and remorse at leaving their wives.twinge/pang of remorse (=a small feeling of remorse): · The woman sounded so nice, McKee felt a twinge of remorse at what he had done to her family.
a set of feelings that stop you from doing something wrong or that make you feel guilty when you have done something wrong: · Her murderer was a psychopath with a total lack of conscience.twinge/pang of conscience (=a sudden feeling of guilt): · He was capable of making the most ruthless decisions with no apparent pangs of conscience.
to not feel guilty about something · I made her cry but I don't feel guilty -- she deserved it.not feel guilty about · Working mothers shouldn't feel guilty about wanting a career.· I don't understand how on earth he can go on lying like that and not feel guilty about it.
if you have a clear conscience , you feel that you have not done anything wrong, so that you do not feel guilty about anything you have done: with a clear conscience: · You can face Lionel with a clear conscience -- you've done nothing to harm him.have a clear conscience: · Let them say whatever they like. I have a clear conscience.
if you have no qualms about doing something, you have no worries or doubts about whether what you are doing is right, even though other people may think it is wrong: have no qualms about: · She had no qualms about sending her young children to boarding school.· Donald had been stealing stationery from work for years and had no qualms about it at all.
formal to not feel guilty about doing something, even though other people may think it is wrong: · I warn you. These people have no compunction whatsoever and cannot be trusted.have/feel no compunction about: · Eliot felt no compunction about living at the expense of his friends.
to feel guilty to feel worried and unhappy because you have done something wrong or because you have upset someone: · I felt really guilty after spending all that money.· Are you feeling guilty because you didn't help her?feel guilty about: · Ed felt guilty about leaving work so early.
to feel very guilty and disappointed with yourself because you have done something wrong or behaved in an unpleasant or embarrassing way: · She felt thoroughly ashamed when she remembered how drunk she'd been.be/feel ashamed of: · I feel ashamed of what I did.be/feel ashamed to do something: · I'm ashamed to admit it, but I wasn't really sorry when he died.
especially spoken to feel very sorry because you have upset someone or done something that you should not have done: · We had a long talk about it afterwards and I know she felt bad.feel bad that: · I should have told Helen I was sorry. I feel really bad that I didn't.feel bad about: · I feel bad about what I said. Things haven't been easy for either of us.feel bad about doing something: · I feel bad about not going to Debbie's party, but I've just got too much to do.
to feel that it was your fault that something bad happened: · You mustn't blame yourself. It was an accident. There was nothing you could have done.blame yourself for: · Assistant coach Rex Hughes blamed himself for the team's poor performance.
to feel guilty about something bad that has happened even though you did not cause it, especially when you feel you could have prevented it: · I'm sorry it didn't work out. I feel responsible.feel responsible for: · For a long time afterwards I felt responsible for his death.
to feel guilty for a long time and keep thinking about something bad that you have done: · I suppose I did have a guilty conscience for a while, but not any more.have a guilty conscience about: · Why is she being so nice to everyone all of a sudden? She's obviously got a guilty conscience about something.
if something bad that you have done is on your conscience , you cannot stop feeling guilty and thinking about it: · Even if you didn't get caught, the murder would be on your conscience for the rest of your life.· In the end Martin told his wife about his affair - he just couldn't live with it on his conscience.
to stop yourself feeling guilty to try to stop yourself feeling guilty by doing something good or kind: · She felt guilty and tried to salve her conscience by inviting him out for a meal.· Don't think you can salve your consciences by giving us money. We won't forgive you that easily.
to stop yourself feeling guilty by telling someone about something bad that you have done: · She decided to clear her conscience and confess everything.· He knew he might get into trouble if he went to the police but he had to do it to clear his conscience.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYadjectives It was his guilty conscience that made him offer to help.
(=the knowledge that you have done nothing wrong)· I was able to answer his questions with a clear conscience.
(=the knowledge that you have done something wrong)· His guilty conscience kept him awake at night.
(=a moral sense of how society should be or how you can help it)· The writer’s strong social conscience is obvious in all his novels.
(=an idea of what is right and wrong)· At what age do children develop a moral conscience?
(=people’s idea of what is right or wrong)· This scandal shocked the public conscience.
· Decisions like this are a matter for the individual conscience.
· The human conscience is a product of civilization.
verbs· Does he have a guilty conscience about his role in the crime?
(=struggle to decide whether it is right or wrong do something)· She wrestled with her conscience for weeks before deciding not to leave him.
(=make someone feel guilty)· Some of the things he’d done still pricked his conscience.
phrases (=something that you must make a moral judgment about)· Whether you vote or not is a matter of conscience.
(=a situation in which it is very difficult to decide what is the right thing to do)· He had a crisis of conscience about whether to take on the legal case.
(=something in your mind that tells you what is right and wrong)· Other leaders urged him to listen to the voice of conscience and hold free elections.
(=someone who is in prison because they have followed their beliefs about what is right or morally good to do)· Vaclav Havel was a prisoner of conscience who later became president of Czechoslovakia.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES It was his guilty conscience that made him offer to help. (=make yourself believe that what you are doing is morally right)
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· Now they could dance with a clear conscience.· He feigned a teasing laugh, a clear conscience.· And who has a clear conscience?· Sophie and the child will be taken care of, and because of that I can live with a clear conscience.· Meeting ethical criteria leads not only to a relatively clear research conscience but to better research.· Maybe not even cynical, maybe just female practicality which can stoop with clearest conscience below the level of the lowest stratagem.· But at any rate I can finally dust my hands and put my jacket on with a clear conscience.· Lawn owners have good reason for keeping clear consciences and generally living each day as through it were their last.
· And journalism, which is more prone to collective examination of conscience than most professions, is already focusing on these problems.
· It's good for your conscience to demonstrate - just so long as no one asks you to do anything about it.· I have a hard time separating one statement resulting from torture from another and I can not in good conscience do so.
· Obviously he behaved in a highly suspicious manner today, but a guilty conscience can inspire one to do strange things.· Rob said. --- Thisis a guilty conscience.· A guilty conscience is apparent to its owner.· Capitalism, in the United States, has often had a guilty conscience.· Neil had a guilty conscience and Jessica had known it.· She owed her father nothing, not even the duty to clear his guilty conscience at the end.· Failure was an abdication of personal responsibility, a cause of a guilty conscience.
· Moreover those units will relentlessly force themselves into the human conscience as being of a wholly desirable nature, that is, good.
· So how can protecting the environment be left to individual conscience?· Extension of the individual freedom of conscience decisions to business corporations strains the rationale of these cases to the breaking point.· The decision is a matter for the individual conscience.· Fenner Brockway paid tribute to the understanding and respect for individual conscience shown by the state.· But the two characters are no mere mouthpieces for the state and the individual conscience.· I urged them to listen to the voice of their individual conscience.
· Today we expect our stars to have social consciences and wide-ranging opinions.· His social conscience, dulled by a sleepless night, was now barely alive.· Answer: the growth of social conscience in the general mass of people.· He was developing an acute social and political conscience, and I could see him devoting his life to the Labour Party.· Those who wish to air their social consciences will support Samuel.· The government's social conscience inevitably raises questions about the balance between growth and welfare.· But whatever the motive, international business is at least waking up to the fact that a social conscience can be good for business.· Above all, Seymour sees the monster as an embodiment of Mary's social conscience.
VERB· I try to ease my conscience as a woman.
· The international community has so far salved its conscience by voicing a succession of pious hopes.· We are there to salve their conscience and to administer their guilt money.· Perhaps, he thought, it helps to salve her own conscience.· But she brought them because it salved her conscience to bring something, and she had not been for two weeks now.· But do not let us allow their punishment to salve our consciences.· It was to salve her conscience, she thought, and make up for her obsessional preoccupation with Nick Frazer.
· I have discharged my duty, she thought, I can not be troubled by my conscience in that respect.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► prick of conscience
1the part of your mind that tells you whether what you are doing is morally right or wronga guilty/troubled conscience- At least, he felt, an act of Providence had prevented him from having a death on his conscience.
- I have something on my conscience that I want to get off before I die.
- It has been on my conscience ever since.
- It is a terrible thing to have on your conscience.
- No female could live with that on her conscience.
- Rest it on your conscience if you wine and dine your lover and claim client entertainment.
- Where that girl is concerned I have nothing on my conscience.
- And apologists for Labour's refusal to organise in Northern Ireland can not in all conscience describe themselves as democrats.
- I have a hard time separating one statement resulting from torture from another and I can not in good conscience do so.
- Yet as Dunkers they could not in conscience support the use of force or pay disrespect to the Crown.
- Finley said that he had a clear conscience and that the charges were unfounded.
- Let them say whatever they like. I have a clear conscience.
- Smith says he has a clear conscience about what happened.
- You can face Lionel with a clear conscience -- you've done nothing to harm him.
- A Clear Conscience A close companion to a forgiving spirit is a clear conscience.
- And who has a clear conscience?
- But at any rate I can finally dust my hands and put my jacket on with a clear conscience.
- He feigned a teasing laugh, a clear conscience.
- My understanding of shareware is that it can be freely distributed but requires registration by the user for a clear conscience.
- Now they could dance with a clear conscience.
- Sophie and the child will be taken care of, and because of that I can live with a clear conscience.
- They could claim, with a clear conscience, that their feet had never left Ross-shire soil.
- A comparison of the two will throw light on the crisis of conscience on both occasions.
- Hereford might just have a crisis of conscience tomorrow.
- It struck me that the practice of Thaipusam should not seem that mystifying for anyone who endures a crisis of conscience.
- The crisis of conscience and duty would be too painful.
- Gordimer's novels pricked the conscience of white South Africans.
- Don't think you can salve your consciences by giving us money. We won't forgive you that easily.
- She felt guilty and tried to salve her conscience by inviting him out for a meal.
- But do not let us allow their punishment to salve our consciences.
- But she brought them because it salved her conscience to bring something, and she had not been for two weeks now.
- It was to salve her conscience, she thought, and make up for her obsessional preoccupation with Nick Frazer.
- The international community has so far salved its conscience by voicing a succession of pious hopes.
- We are there to salve their conscience and to administer their guilt money.
It was his guilty conscience that made him offer to help. Well, at least I can face them all with a clear conscience (=the knowledge that you have done nothing wrong).prisoner of conscience (=someone in prison because of their beliefs) I can’t tell you what to do – it’s a matter of conscience (=something you must make a moral judgement about). a crisis of conscience among medical staff (=a situation in which it is very difficult to decide what is the right thing to do) ► Do not confuse with consciousness (=the condition of being awake and aware of things).2a guilty feeling that you have about something bad you have donetwinge/pang of conscience Ian felt a pang of conscience at having misjudged her.have no conscience (about something) (=not feel guilty about something) They’ve no conscience at all about cheating.3on your conscience if you have something on your conscience, it makes you feel guilty: He didn’t want somebody’s death on his conscience. Could you live with that on your conscience?4not in (all/good) conscience formal if you cannot in all conscience do something, you cannot do it because you think it is wrong: I couldn’t in all conscience tell him that his job was safe.COLLOCATIONSadjectivesa clear conscience (=the knowledge that you have done nothing wrong)· I was able to answer his questions with a clear conscience.a guilty/troubled conscience (=the knowledge that you have done something wrong)· His guilty conscience kept him awake at night.a social conscience (=a moral sense of how society should be or how you can help it)· The writer’s strong social conscience is obvious in all his novels.a moral conscience (=an idea of what is right and wrong)· At what age do children develop a moral conscience?the public conscience (=people’s idea of what is right or wrong)· This scandal shocked the public conscience.the individual conscience· Decisions like this are a matter for the individual conscience.the human conscience· The human conscience is a product of civilization.verbshave a clear/guilty etc conscience· Does he have a guilty conscience about his role in the crime?wrestle/struggle with your conscience (=struggle to decide whether it is right or wrong do something)· She wrestled with her conscience for weeks before deciding not to leave him.prick somebody’s conscience (=make someone feel guilty)· Some of the things he’d done still pricked his conscience.phrasesbe a matter of conscience (=something that you must make a moral judgment about)· Whether you vote or not is a matter of conscience.a crisis of conscience (=a situation in which it is very difficult to decide what is the right thing to do)· He had a crisis of conscience about whether to take on the legal case.the voice of conscience (=something in your mind that tells you what is right and wrong)· Other leaders urged him to listen to the voice of conscience and hold free elections.a prisoner of conscience (=someone who is in prison because they have followed their beliefs about what is right or morally good to do)· Vaclav Havel was a prisoner of conscience who later became president of Czechoslovakia.