countable noun [usually singular, oft poss NOUN, adjective NOUN]
Your conscience is the part of your mind that tells you whether what you are doing is right or wrong. If you have a guilty conscience, you feel guilty about something because you know it was wrong. If you have a clear conscience, you do not feel guilty because you know you have done nothing wrong.
I have battled with my conscience over whether I should actually send this letter.
What if he got a guilty conscience and brought it back?
I could go away again with a clear conscience.
See full dictionary entry for conscience
guilty conscience in British English
(ˈɡɪltɪ ˈkɒnʃəns)
noun
a feeling of guilt experienced by someone who is aware of having done something wrong
She has a guilty conscience about the way she treated him.
Examples of 'guilty conscience' in a sentence
guilty conscience
Is he being so nice because he has a guilty conscience?
The Sun (2012)
If you chance your arm and get away with it you should have a guilty conscience.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
A guilty conscience is the mother of invention.
Lindenfield, Gael 50 Ways to Become a Self-Confident Woman (1989)