1.
to feel guilty; to have a bad conscience; to be troubled by one's conscience
An expression describing the internal discomfort felt when one knows one has done or is doing something morally wrong. Literally, 'one's conscience reproaches.' The subject is 良心 (conscience), not the person.
嘘をついて良心が咎めた。
I felt guilty about lying.
良心が咎めて、本当のことを話すことにした。
My guilty conscience led me to decide to tell the truth.
友人を裏切ったことが良心が咎めて、何年も苦しんだ。
I was tormented for years by guilt over having betrayed my friend.
USAGE:
In this expression, 良心 (conscience) is the grammatical subject that does the 咎める (reproaching). The person who feels guilty is not the subject but the one whose conscience is acting. The verb 咎める on its own means to blame or find fault with. This is a relatively literary expression.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 良心が咎めて〜する (to do something because of a guilty conscience)
- 良心の呵責 (pangs of conscience — related noun phrase)
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 後ろめたい: feeling guilty, uneasy — an adjective for the same emotion
- 罪悪感: guilt, sense of sin — a more direct noun for the feeling of guilt