conscience

noun

con·​science ˈkän(t)-shən(t)s 

1

a

: the sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one's own conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good

I cannot do anything that goes against my conscience.

… all of these issues are the result of a guilty conscience.

—Ariana Romero

Consumers are also more and more concerned with spending with their conscience, and many … spend on brands that are aligned with their values.

—Keith Nealon

I can't sleep with this on my conscience. [=This makes me feel so guilty I can't sleep.]

b

: a faculty, power, or principle (as in an individual or group) that steers toward what is right and away from what is wrong

guided by conscience

If you had listened to the voice of conscience, and heeded the stings of remorse …

—Mary W. Shelley

c

psychology : the part of the superego that transmits commands and admonitions to the ego

2

: conformity to what one considers to be correct, right, or morally good : conscientiousness

forbidden by conscience and by law

3

: sensitive regard for fairness or justice : scruple

a mercenary with no conscience

4

archaic : consciousness

conscienceless

ˈkän(t)-shən(t)s-ləs 

adjective

Phrases

in all conscience or in conscience

: in all fairness

They could not in all conscience remain silent.

Examples of conscience in a Sentence

… it is a politician's natural instinct to avoid taking any stand that seems controversial unless and until the voters demand it or conscience absolutely requires it. —Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, 2006

We like to imagine literature as the still, small voice of human conscience. It is that only rarely, however. Actively and passively, it has always borne along pernicious ideas. —Marilynne Robinson, New York Times Book Review, 15 Mar. 1987

So she had lied to him, but so had he to her, they were quits on that score and his conscience was calm. —Bernard Malamud, The Magic Barrel, (1950) 1958

The rat had no morals, no conscience, no scruples, no consideration, no decency … —E. B. White, Charlotte's Web, 1952

The thief must have had an attack of conscience, because he returned the wallet with nothing missing from it.

Recent Examples on the Web

Mario Cuomo, the soaring orator and three-term governor, embodied the liberal conscience of the 1980s. —Nik Popli, Time, 5 Nov. 2025

Shirley follows along as Don travels across the globe to various COP meetings, slowly developing a conscience along the way. —Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 4 Nov. 2025

Which is to say, this isn’t the story of a greedy, materialistic man who suffers a crisis of conscience while trying to pry a priceless treasure away from an uneducated hick who doesn’t know any better. —David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 29 Oct. 2025

For decades, they have been disillusioned by the cynicism, intellectual narrowness and greed of the corporate academy, which chose profit over principles while providing knowledge without conscience, skill without reflection, and schooling without heart. —MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin conscientia, from conscient-, consciens, present participle of conscire to be conscious, be conscious of guilt, from com- + scire to know — more at science

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing conscience

• clear conscience
• conscience money
• conscience-stricken
• guilty/troubled conscience
• matter of (individual) conscience
• on my conscience
• on one's conscience
• prisoner of conscience
• social conscience
• vote one's conscience

Kids Definition

conscience

noun

con·​science ˈkän-chən(t)s 

: knowledge of right and wrong and a feeling one should do what is right

Medical Definition

conscience

noun

con·​science ˈkän-chən(t)s 

: the part of the superego in psychoanalysis that transmits commands and admonitions to the ego

Legal Definition

conscience

adjective

con·​science

: exempting persons whose religious beliefs forbid compliance

conscience laws, which allow physicians…to refuse to participate in abortions

—W. J. Curran