conscience
Inner ethical guide
Conscience is the inner sense of right and wrong that guides behavior and produces guilt when violated.
It functions as a moral compass: My conscience wouldn't let me keep the money.
A guilty conscience troubles someone who has done wrong.
To do something in good conscience is to act without moral conflict.
Conscience can also mean conscientiousness: a conscience about returning calls.
Study of right conduct
- principlesFoundational moral beliefs
- virtueMoral goodness or merit
- integrityMoral soundness and consistency
- scruplesMoral reservations about acting
righteousness · honor · decency · uprightness · probity · rectitude · values · standards
Guilt for wrongdoing
- regretSorrow over past actions
- shamePainful awareness of failure
- contritionRemorseful state over misdeeds
- pangsSudden sharp sensations
self-reproach · compunction · penitence · repentance · atonement · culpability · confession · absolution
Sound from throat
- whisperSpeech without full voice
- self-awarenessInsight into one's psyche
- introspectionObserving one's own mind
- self-examinationScrutiny of one's thoughts
reflection · soul-searching · qualms · self-questioning · intuition · instinct · conviction · counsel
Jointly organized group
- publicAvailable to all
- nationalOf a country
- civicPertaining to community affairs
- communityCollective of connected people
accountability · responsibility · justice · fairness · advocacy · activism · whistleblower · dissent
Opposition between parties
- quandaryState of perplexity
- predicamentDifficult, unpleasant situation
- crossroadsMeeting of routes
- choiceAct of selecting
decision · torn · hesitation · uncertainty · ambivalence · indecision · scruple · wrestle
ethics
Study of right conduct
- principlesFoundational moral beliefs
- virtueMoral goodness or merit
- integrityMoral soundness and consistency
scruples · righteousness · honor · decency · uprightness · probity · rectitude · values · standards · code
remorse
Guilt for wrongdoing
- regretSorrow over past actions
- shamePainful awareness of failure
- contritionRemorseful state over misdeeds
pangs · self-reproach · compunction · penitence · repentance · atonement · culpability · confession · absolution · redemption
voice
Sound from throat
- whisperSpeech without full voice
- self-awarenessInsight into one's psyche
- introspectionObserving one's own mind
self-examination · reflection · soul-searching · qualms · self-questioning · intuition · instinct · conviction · counsel · prompting
collective
Jointly organized group
community · accountability · responsibility · justice · fairness · advocacy · activism · whistleblower · dissent · protest
conflict
Opposition between parties
- quandaryState of perplexity
- predicamentDifficult, unpleasant situation
- crossroadsMeeting of routes
choice · decision · torn · hesitation · uncertainty · ambivalence · indecision · scruple · wrestle · grapple
- valuesvalue, honesty, worth, fairness, morals
- guiltguilty, guilt trip, remorseful, contrition, remorse
- inner turmoilinner turmoil, inner conflict, inner struggle, self-doubt, indecision
- mental statesknowledge, mood, anxious, memory, aware
- moral sayingsdo unto others, golden rule, do the right thing, honesty is the best policy, treat others fairly
- moralsmorality, moral code, ethics lessons, moral codes, moral compass
conscienceamorality
Lacking ethical concern
unscrupulousness · immorality · moral blindness · remorselessness · depravity
- guilty conscienceSelf-blame for wrongdoing
- clear conscienceFreedom from moral guilt
- clean conscienceFreedom from guilt
- individual conscienceOne's private moral judgment
- good conscienceInner moral ease
- my conscienceInternal ethical guide
conscientious, conscienceless, conscientiously, consciences, conscientiousness