COMPUNCTION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does compunction mean? 

• COMPUNCTION (noun)
  The noun COMPUNCTION has 1 sense:

1. a feeling of deep regret (usually for some misdeed)

  Familiarity information: COMPUNCTION used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COMPUNCTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A feeling of deep regret (usually for some misdeed)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

compunction; remorse; self-reproach

Hypernyms ("compunction" is a kind of...):

regret; rue; ruefulness; sorrow (sadness associated with some wrong done or some disappointment)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "compunction"):

guilt; guilt feelings; guilt trip; guilty conscience (remorse caused by feeling responsible for some offense)

penance; penitence; repentance (remorse for your past conduct)

 Context examples 

If they fire, Watson, have no compunction about shooting them down.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I had little doubt then, and I have less doubt now, that he would have knocked me down without the least compunction, if I had hesitated.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Those whom he has been the chief cause of leading into ruin, he can neglect and desert without the smallest compunction.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I thank heaven that my compunction at leaving poor Staunton all alone in this plight caused me to turn my carriage back and so to make your acquaintance.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I felt no compunction in doing so, for under the circumstances I felt that I should protect myself in every way I could.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Emma wished he would be less pointed, yet could not help being amused; and when on glancing her eye towards Jane Fairfax she caught the remains of a smile, when she saw that with all the deep blush of consciousness, there had been a smile of secret delight, she had less scruple in the amusement, and much less compunction with respect to her.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

He had just compunction enough for having done nothing for his sisters himself, to be exceedingly anxious that everybody else should do a great deal; and an offer from Colonel Brandon, or a legacy from Mrs. Jennings, was the easiest means of atoning for his own neglect.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

I struck him down with no more compunction than if he had been some foul and venomous beast.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

So much compunction for having ever wronged him, even by a shapeless thought, did I feel within me, that the confession of having done so was rising to my lips.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I do not know whether he was seized with compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited upon the injured man.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)