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Compunction   /kəmpˈəŋkʃən/   Listen
noun
Compunction  n.  
1.
A pricking; stimulation. (Obs.) "That acid and piercing spirit which, with such activity and compunction, invadeth the brains and nostrils."
2.
A picking of heart; poignant grief proceeding from a sense of guilt or consciousness of causing pain; the sting of conscience. "He acknowledged his disloyalty to the king, with expressions of great compunction."
Synonyms: Compunction, Remorse, Contrition. Remorse is anguish of soul under a sense of guilt or consciousness of having offended God or brought evil upon one's self or others. Compunction is the pain occasioned by a wounded and awakened conscience. Neither of them implies true contrition, which denotes self-condemnation, humiliation, and repentance. We speak of the gnawings of remorse; of compunction for a specific act of transgression; of deep contrition in view of our past lives. See Regret.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Compunction" Quotes from Famous Books



... sin! Sin! Do you not, from your point of view, consider the manner in which Paul's father behaved toward us a sin? I am unable to see any difference. There was no compunction about locking the door upon us. I was treated as a nondescript, bringing disgrace to the family! As if my family could not match up with the Warkentins any day! After all, I am the daughter of a university professor, my dear Miss Clara. You possibly fail to appreciate that ...
— The German Classics, v. 20 - Masterpieces of German Literature • Various

... enough to look upon the body of a man you have killed. But Adams had no more pity or compunction in his mind than if ...
— The Pools of Silence • H. de Vere Stacpoole

... weeds, when she reached Fred's father's house, Emily loved to sit with her boy on her lap, and indulge in passionate tears, thinking over how fond poor Fred had been, and how proud of her. There was no sting in her grief, no compunction, for she knew perfectly well how happy she had made him; and there was not the anguish, of personal loss, and ...
— Fated to Be Free • Jean Ingelow

... frame he bade adieu to the old gentleman, whose voice had proved so musical, and set forth for the drawing-room. Already on the stair, he was seized with some compunction; but when he entered the great gallery and beheld his wife, the Chancellor's abstract flatteries fell from him like rain, and he re-awoke to the poetic facts of life. She stood a good way off below a shining lustre, ...
— Prince Otto • Robert Louis Stevenson

... brother Charles, had, with all the simplicity of eighteen, straightway fallen in love with the handsome gentlemanlike man, who, on his side, made no secret of the impression produced on him by the great loveliness of the English girl. Moore, who was a thoroughly heartless scamp, had not the least compunction in agreeing to a marriage between his sister and this man, with whose character and mode of life he was perfectly well acquainted; indeed, it suited his views so well, that he did what lay in his power to forward it. There were no difficulties in the way; the two were almost ...
— My Little Lady • Eleanor Frances Poynter


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