sense of honor; sense of shame
Formal term for a person's inner moral compass that knows what is honorable and what is shameful. Often used in discussions of ethics, integrity, or public conduct.
Politicians are expected to have a sense of honor.
He lost his sense of shame and engaged in wrongdoing.
Compound of 廉 (integrity, honesty) and 恥 (shame) with 心 (heart, mind), literally 'heart of integrity and shame'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word is a Sino-Japanese coinage expressing a Confucian-influenced moral concept.