Compunction

That acid and piercing spirit which, with such activity and compunction, invadeth the brains and nostrils.
Sir T. Browne.

He acknowledged his disloyalty to the king, with expressions of great compunction.
Clarendon.

Syn. -- Compunction, Remorse, Contrition. Remorse is anguish of soul under a sense of guilt or consciousness of having offended God or brought evil upon one's self or others. Compunction is the pain occasioned by a wounded and awakened conscience. Neither of them implies true contrition, which denotes self-condemnation, humiliation, and repentance. We speak of the gnawings of remorse; of compunction for a specific act of transgression; of deep contrition in view of our past lives. See Regret.