What does conscience mean?
Conscience is the internal moral compass by which human beings judge their own actions as right or wrong. It operates as an inner voice or sense of duty: when we act in accordance with our values, our conscience is clear; when we violate them, it produces guilt, shame, or remorse. The word is central to ethics, religion, law, and everyday moral reasoning, appearing in phrases such as 'in good conscience', 'a clear conscience', and 'let your conscience be your guide'. Derived from Latin roots meaning 'to know together', conscience implies a kind of self-knowledge about moral matters. Its adjective form, 'conscientious', describes someone who acts with care and integrity. Because it concerns private moral awareness rather than external rules, conscience is often invoked in debates over personal freedom, civil disobedience, and freedom of belief — making it one of the most philosophically significant words in the English language.
nounA person's inner sense of right and wrong, which guides their moral judgments and produces feelings of guilt or approval depending on one's actions.
- The internal moral faculty that distinguishes right from wrong and guides a person's conduct.
- A feeling of guilt or unease resulting from having done (or contemplated doing) something wrong — as in 'a guilty conscience'.
"His conscience would not let him keep the money he had found."
"She could not, in good conscience, sign off on a report she knew contained false figures."
"The lie weighed on his conscience for weeks before he finally confessed."
Rarely used in the plural except in philosophical or comparative contexts referring to multiple individuals' moral faculties.
"Different cultures may shape their members' consciences in distinct ways."
Conscience literally means "knowing with" — the Latin word suggests knowledge shared inside your own head, which is why it has been called "the voice of God" by philosophers for centuries.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of conscience
Conscience derives from the Latin 'conscientia', formed from 'com-' (with) plus 'scire' (to know), originally suggesting knowledge shared within oneself or awareness of a fact. The term entered English via Old French in the medieval period and came to denote specifically moral self-knowledge — the faculty that judges one's own conduct. It shares its root with related words such as 'conscious', 'conscientious', 'science', and 'omniscient', all tracing back to the same Latin verb for knowing.
Related word forms
How conscience is actually used
Conscience is a formal-to-neutral register noun common in ethical, religious, and legal contexts. It is frequently used with adjectives that describe its state ('clear', 'guilty', 'troubled') and appears often in the phrase 'in all/good conscience' to mean acting without moral objection. It is uncountable when referring to the faculty itself, but can take indefinite article use in phrases like 'a guilty conscience'.
Easily confused with conscience
"Conscious" means awake or aware of something, while "conscience" is the moral faculty that distinguishes right from wrong.
"Conscientious" is an adjective meaning diligent and careful in one's duties, derived from the same root as "conscience" but describing thoroughness rather than moral judgment.