conscience
conscience — 名詞
- consciencesingular
- consciencesplural
1. the internal sense inside a person that judges if their behaviour is good or bad
良心
判斷是非善惡的內在聲音
the internal sense inside a person that judges if their behaviour is good or bad and produces a feeling of guilt whenever they do something wrong
Isabela could not take the money because her conscience told her it was stealing.
Isabela 不能拿那筆錢，因為她的良心告訴她那是在偷竊。
conscience + tell [person] + clause — moral judgment expressed as speech
A guilty conscience kept Hao awake after he lied to his mother about the vase.
Hao 對媽媽說了關於打破花瓶的謊話後，罪惡的良心讓他整晚睡不著。
collocation: guilty conscience
Kwame's conscience was clear because he returned the wallet with all the cash inside.
Kwame 的良心是清白的，因為他歸還了那個裝滿現金的皮夾。
collocation: clear conscience / clean conscience
Diya's conscience would not let her copy answers from her classmate during the exam.
Diya 的良心不讓她在考試時抄同學的答案。
conscience + would not let [person] + verb
The young boy's conscience troubled him after he took a cookie without permission.
那個小男孩未經允許拿了一塊餅乾之後，他的良心讓他感到不安。
- guilty conscience
- clear conscience / clean conscience
- conscience tells / pricks / troubles
- social conscience
- political conscience
- have the conscience to do something
- moral sense
more formal and less emotional than 'conscience'; used in philosophy
- inner voice
a more poetic or metaphorical term; conscience is the actual faculty, not just a momentary feeling
- sense of right and wrong
a descriptive phrase rather than a single-word synonym; broader and less personal
文法句型
often used with possessive adjective: my/his/her/their conscience
conscience + tell(s) + [person] + clause
用法筆記
Frequently used with possessive adjectives (my conscience, his conscience). Common fixed expressions include 'guilty conscience' (feeling bad about something wrong you did) and 'clear conscience' (feeling that you have done nothing wrong). The moral judgment is often described as speaking to the person: 'my conscience tells me…'
常見錯誤
2. the practice of acting according to what you believe is right and good, particul
良知；道義
依道德信念行事的原則
the practice of acting according to what you believe is right and good, particularly when doing so requires personal courage or sacrifice
Ravindra refused to work for the tobacco company as a matter of conscience.
Ravindra 出於良知拒絕為那家菸草公司工作。
phrase: a matter of conscience
Élise followed her conscience and told the truth, even though it cost her job.
Élise 憑良心說出實話，即使因此丟了工作。
pattern: follow one's conscience
The doctor acted according to his conscience by reporting the unsafe hospital conditions.
那位醫生憑著良心通報了醫院裡不安全的狀況。
Asher's conscience would not let him keep the extra change the cashier gave him.
Asher 的良心不讓他保留店員多找給他的零錢。
- a matter of conscience
- according to one's conscience
- follow one's conscience
- prisoner of conscience
- freedom of conscience
- moral principle
refers to a specific rule or belief rather than the internal faculty itself
- conviction
a firmly held belief, often political or religious; stronger than conscience in suggesting defiance
- conscientiousness
the quality of being careful and thorough, more about diligence than moral rightness
文法句型
often in the phrase 'a matter of conscience'
verb + according to one's conscience
用法筆記
Often appears in the fixed phrase 'a matter of conscience' to state that a decision is based on moral principle. Also common in 'prisoner of conscience' — a person imprisoned for their political or religious beliefs.
常見錯誤
3. an uncomfortable feeling of guilt or regret that comes from knowing you did some
內疚；罪惡感
做錯事後的羞愧感受
an uncomfortable feeling of guilt or regret that comes from knowing you did something wrong or neglected a responsibility you should have met
Minh felt a pang of conscience after lying about where he had been that evening.
Minh 對自己的去向撒了謊之後，感到一陣強烈的良心不安。
collocation: pang of conscience
Ava's conscience bothered her for days after she said something cruel to her younger sister.
Ava 對妹妹說了殘忍的話之後，連續幾天都受到良心的譴責。
conscience + bother [person] — the feeling as an active force
Hamza's guilty conscience stopped him from enjoying the success he had unfairly won.
Hamza 因為對自己成功的方式心懷愧疚，所以無法享受成果。
The weight of Ife's conscience grew too heavy, so she told her friend the truth.
Ife 的罪惡感太重，最後她還是向朋友說了實話。
- pang of conscience
- twinge of conscience
- guilty conscience
- conscience bothers / troubles / weighs on
- ease one's conscience
- guilt
a more direct emotional word; 'conscience' in this sense implies the feeling arises from your own moral judgment, whereas 'guilt' can also be imposed by others
- remorse
deeper and includes regret and a wish to undo the harm; conscience may be present without full remorse
- compunction
a formal term for a slight feeling of guilt; narrower and less common
文法句型
often in the phrase 'a pang/twinge of conscience'
conscience + bothers/troubles/weighs on
用法筆記
Common in the fixed expressions 'a pang/twinge of conscience' (a sudden brief guilty feeling) and 'a guilty conscience'. This sense focuses on the painful feeling itself rather than the moral faculty that produces it — distinguish from Sense 1 by whether the focus is on the inner judge (Sense 1) or the resulting discomfort (Sense 3).
常見錯誤
honestly and fairly, without doing anything that goes against your moral beliefs — used when saying you cannot do something because it would be wrong
憑良心；憑良知
I cannot in good conscience recommend a product that I know is dangerous for children.
The judge could not in all conscience send a teenager to prison for such a small mistake.
on your conscience
idiomcausing you to feel guilty or responsible for something bad that happened
良心不安；心裡有愧
The lie she told her grandmother has been on her conscience for many years.
Yusuf knew the accident was not his fault, but it was still on his conscience.
to make you feel guilty or uncomfortable about something, especially causing you to change your behaviour
良心受譴責；使良心不安
Seeing the old woman sleeping on the street pricked her conscience and she offered to buy her a meal.
The film about how farm animals are treated pricked his conscience and he became a vegetarian the next week.
This means that someone feels guilty because of something they did or said.
良心不安
After eating the last cookie, his conscience pricked him.
Did your conscience prick you when you forgot her birthday?
同根字
- conscientious形容詞C1
- conscientiously副詞C1
- conscientiousness名詞C2
- conscience-stricken形容詞C2