compunction

1. n. A pricking; stimulation. Source: opted

2. n. A picking of heart; poignant grief proceeding from a sense of guilt or consciousness of causing pain; the sting of conscience. Source: opted

3. n. a feeling of deep regret (usually for some misdeed) Source: wordnet

4. 1. A pricking; stimulation. [Obs.] That acid piecering spirit which, with such activity and compunction, invadeth the brains and nostrils. Sir T. Browne. 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. Clarendon. Syn. -- Compunction, Remorse, Contrition. Remorse is anguish of soul under a sense of guilt or consciousness of having offened 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. Source: webster

5. n:100 n. a feeling of deep regret (usually for some misdeed) Source: ecdict

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