This word confusion conscience vs conscious usually trips me up. Fortunately, I can nip over to my website and get a quick reminder that one’s conscience should guide one’s choices.
And yes, sometimes it’s a conscious choice to pay attention to that conscience . . . sigh . . .
One mnemonic aid I thought of was sin. It’s a poor one, yet came as I was looking at both words—c-o-n-s-c-i-e-n-c-e. After all, going against one’s conscience usually is a sin…
Exploring Later . . .
You may also want to explore “Unconscionable versus Unconscious“.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Conscience | Conscious |
|---|---|
 — |
.JPG) — |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun
Plural: consciences |
Adjective |
| An inner feeling or voice viewed as acting as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one’s behavior, conduct, or motives
The complex of ethical and moral principles that controls or inhibits the actions or thoughts of an individual An inhibiting sense of what is prudent [Obsolete] Consciousness
[Obsolete] Strict and reverential observance |
Aware of and responding to one’s surroundings, existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc.
Awake Fully aware of or sensitive to something (often followed by of) Having the mental faculties fully active Known to oneself
Aware of what one is doing
|
| Examples: | |
| Yeah, the guy confessed. Said it was preying on his conscience.
In all good conscience, I simply can’t go along with this. An act of providence had prevented him from having a death on his conscience. He had a guilty conscience about his desires. Ben was suffering a pang of conscience. My conscience is clear. |
Yes, it was a conscious decision by the board.
Is he conscious? I am conscious of wanting to eat more chocolate bonbons, but my conscience would bother me. Believe me, he’s conscious of his lies. It’s best to be conscious of one’s own faults. He wasn’t conscious of the gossip about his past. He was conscious during the operation. It was a conscious guilt, for he knew that what he had done was wrong. If you make a conscious effort at improving your grades, I’ll buy you a bike. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: conscience-stricken, conscienceless, conscientious Adverb: consciencelessly Noun: consciencelessness, conscientiousness, subconscience |
Adjective: half-conscious, nonconscious, self-conscious Adverb: consciously, half-consciously Noun: half-consciousness |
| History of the Word: | |
| Middle English in the sense of inner thoughts or knowledge and via the Old French from the Latin conscientia, from conscient- meaning being privy to, from the verb conscire, which is from con- (with) + scire (know). | Late 16th century in the sense of being aware of wrongdoing from the Latin conscius meaning knowing with others or in oneself, which is from conscire (be privy to) + -ous. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Conscience versus Conscious
Apple Dictionary.com
Pinterest Photo Credits:
The Full-page Miniature of Adam, Eve, and the Serpent was scanned by the New York Public Library and is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Revised as of 21 Apr 2024
By: Kathy Davie