compunctiousness means the quality of being compunctious; compunction. It carries an Arena rating of 1329, earned across 88 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, compunctiousness ranks #475 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #2,031 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #4,058 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #5,325 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
Why “compunctiousness” is a great word
COMPUNCTIOUSNESS — [Noun] A state of feeling the pricks of conscience; remorse of a slight or passing nature. From compunctious (c. 1600, from compunction, from Latin compunctionem, a pricking of conscience, from compungere, “to prick severely”) + the noun-forming suffix -ness. Unlike “remorse,” which implies a deep, abiding sorrow, or “apathy,” which denotes a hollowed-out indifference, compunctiousness is the acute, nagging flicker of a still-functioning moral nerve. It is the fleeting heat in the cheeks after a petty lie, the sudden cold knot in the stomach upon hearing gossip you helped spread, or the faint, persistent itch of a privilege unearned—the soul’s lightest, most insistent proof that its compass, however dusty, still contains its needle.
Etymology
From compunctious + -ness.
noun
- The quality of being compunctious; compunction.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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