Word of the Day – Compunction

Compunction (noun)

kom-punk-shun

A feeling of guilt or moral scruple that prevents or follows the doing of something bad.

Middle English: from Old French componction, from ecclesiastical Latin compunctio(n-), from Latin compungere ‘prick sharply’, from com- (expressing intensive force) + pungere ‘to prick’.

Example sentences

“They fired upon the local people without compunction.”