A feeling of deep regret (usually for some misdeed)

Usage examples of compunction.

Nevertheless, Miss Dunstable seemed to have no more compunction in making calls upon his time, than she might have felt had he been her brother.

Scooby snacks, what this boils down to is that fantasies, much like dreams, free your brain to explore secret, extraordinary realms without the compunction of practicality, morality, or logic.

I do not know whether I pronounced these words with an air of compunction, but the abbot joined his hands and lifted them to heaven, as if to thank God for touching my heart and bringing me there to lay down the burden of my sins.

But somehow that seemed a little too subtle for people who owned interrogator droids and normally had no compunction about using them.

He did not conceal either of these sentiments from his empanelled countrymen, and that sort of compunction appeared shockingly imperfect to the crammed court.

One day, in a queer access of compunction, he had made Leila an offer of marriage.

There are occasions when those feelings of compunction which troubled Macbeth and his wife are wellnigh proof against the utmost powers of suggestion, or, as in the case of Hubert and Prince Arthur, compel the criminal to desist from his enterprise.

Had I been posted over prisoners I should have had no compunction about shooting at those trying to get away, and consequently I could not blame the Rebels for doing the same thing.

It may be that he pursues her doggedly and steadily, with no touch of compunction, remorse, or pity.

Saddam has no compunction about using these horrific weapons to kill millions and that he thinks more about revenge than deterrence.

Then a reaction of compunction set in, and she reminded herself that in fairness she ought to write and tell her news in as friendly a fashion as possible to her dismissed suitor before it burst upon him from some other quarter.

But in reality, she had no compunction about calling one of the handful of crime writers whose numbers were stored in her personal organizer.

Lindsey would have shot him without hesitation, without moral compunction, but he moved so incredibly fast, like a cat springing for safety, that all she would have gotten was a piece of the doorjamb.

Prescott felt no compunction to save the woman - it was merely part of his job to do so.

He had no wish to use violence, but he would have had no compunction about it if it became necessary.