| compunction \kuhm-PUHNK-shuhn\ (noun) - 1 : Anxiety or deep unease proceeding from a sense of guilt or consciousness of causing pain. 2 : A sting of conscience or a twinge of uneasiness; a qualm; a scruple.
"If they succeeded, however, Sicily would simply come under the authority of the new revolutionary government in Naples, a government that would feel no compunctions whatsoever about saddling the island with even more 'stamp duties, official papers, and forced labor' than before." -- James Fentress, 'Rebels and Mafiosi'
compunction derives from Late Latin compunctio, compunction-, "sting or pricking of conscience," from the past participle of compungere, "to prick severely," from com-, intensive prefix + pungere, "to prick." |
