compunction
uneasy guilt or moral pricking
Roots
- com-: with, together, complete, or intensified
- point / punct: point, prick, or tiny detail
Other words with the point / punct root
- point: small mark or exact spot
- punctilious: extremely careful about small details or rules
- punctual: on time
- punctuation: marks that organize writing
- puncture: to pierce with a point
Compunction is conscience pricking you from inside.
He lied without compunction, which worried everyone more than the lie itself.
Compunction is guilt as a small inner puncture. A person without compunction does wrong and feels no prick of conscience.