pang of conscience

pang of conscience (plural pangs of conscience)

1. (often in the plural) A feeling of shame, guilt, or embarrassment, resulting from behavior which one regrets.
   • 1879, Anthony Trollope, chapter 50, in John Caldigate:

     It was clear to Mr. Seely that Dick Shand's story was 'got up,'—and very well got up. He had no pang of conscience as to using it. But when it came to believing it, that was quite another thing.

   • 1896, Frances Hodgson Burnett, chapter 11, in A Lady of Quality:

     So it fell that Mistress Anne could go to London without pangs of conscience at leaving her sister in the country and alone.

• guilty conscience
• remorse
• scruple
• compunction
• misgiving