Meaning & use
clear conscience
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
the calm feeling you have when you know you have not done anything wrong
Grammar: Often used with have, get, or keep: She has a clear conscience about the decision.
Patterns
- have a clear conscience
- get a clear conscience
- keep a clear conscience
- a clear conscience about something
After returning the lost wallet, she had a clear conscience.
He could only get a clear conscience by telling the truth.
I want to keep a clear conscience, so I won't cheat on the test.
Common combinations
- have a clear conscience
- She has a clear conscience because she returned the money.
- get a clear conscience
- He got a clear conscience after he apologized.
- keep a clear conscience
- It's hard to keep a clear conscience if you lie.
- a clear conscience about something
- I have a clear conscience about my decision.
Synonyms and how they differ
- guilt-free
- Guilt-free describes a feeling or situation without guilt, while a clear conscience is the state of mind itself.
- innocent
- Innocent means not guilty of a specific crime or wrongdoing, but a clear conscience is about your own inner sense of right and wrong.
Opposites
Commonly confused: clear conscience or conscious?
clear conscience vs conscious
Conscious means awake or aware; conscience is the inner sense of right and wrong. A clear conscience is about morality, not awareness.
Practice
She returned the money because she wanted to have a ______.
Choose one answer.
The fixed phrase is 'clear conscience', meaning a feeling of not being guilty. 'Clear conscious' is wrong because 'conscious' is an adjective, and 'clear consciousness' means being awake and aware, not morally at ease.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “clear conscience”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.