compunction Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a feeling of deep regret (usually for some misdeed)
    remorse; self-reproach.

WordNet

Com*punc"tion noun
Etymology
OF. compunction, F. componction, L. compunctio, fr. compungere, compunctum, to prick; com- + pungere to prick, sting. See Pungent.
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913