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.”
