guilt

[gilt]

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noun

the fact or state of having committed an offense, crime, violation, or wrong, especially against moral or penal law; culpability: He admitted his guilt.

a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined.

conduct involving the commission of such crimes, wrongs, etc.: to live a life of guilt.

verb (used with object) Informal.

to cause to feel guilty (often followed by out or into): She totally guilted me out, dude. He guilted me into picking up the tab.See also guilt-trip.

Origin of guilt

before 1000; Middle English gilt, Old English gylt offense

Related formsnon·guilt, nounpre·guilt, noun

Can be confusedgild gilt guild guilt

Synonyms for guilt

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR guilt ON THESAURUS.COM

3. criminality.

Antonyms for guilt

1. innocence.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for guilt

culpability, disgrace, regret, indiscretion, liability, shame, remorse, stigma, responsibility, sin, malfeasance, misbehavior, dereliction, slip, offense, misconduct, wickedness, onus, penitence, dishonor

Examples from the Web for guilt

Contemporary Examples of guilt

Guilt, when dispensed in the circumstances Morris occupied, is the anti-Viagra.
Powerful Congressman Writes About ‘Fleshy Breasts’
Asawin Suebsaeng
January 7, 2015
Instead of lights and gifts, this one is filled with broken promises and guilt.
Why Your New Year’s Diet Will Fail
Carrie Arnold
December 30, 2014
Police then lied to Henry by telling him that if he admitted his guilt, he could go home.
How the U.S. Justice System Screws Prisoners with Disabilities
Elizabeth Picciuto
December 16, 2014
Although often this is considered proof positive of guilt at trial, it is not an uncommon occurrence in false confessions.
How the U.S. Justice System Screws Prisoners with Disabilities
Elizabeth Picciuto
December 16, 2014
Perhaps my outrage at the men defending Cosby springs from my own feelings of guilt.
What Trait Do Bill Cosby’s Defenders Share?
Dean Obeidallah
November 26, 2014

Historical Examples of guilt

If Ben was morally guilty, he was forced into his guilt by law and general custom.
Biography of a Slave
Charles Thompson
It was only by an effort that he shook off the vague feeling of guilt.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
He put his whole will into the assertion of guilt, to batter down the man's resistance.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
But Uncle Lucien was so certain of the boy's guilt that he mistook his pride for impudence.
The Boy Life of Napoleon
Eugenie Foa
Whatever tends to extenuate the guilt of other sins, is an aggravation of this.
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. I
Francis Augustus Cox

British Dictionary definitions for guilt

guilt

noun

the fact or state of having done wrong or committed an offence

responsibility for a criminal or moral offence deserving punishment or a penalty

remorse or self-reproach caused by feeling that one is responsible for a wrong or offence

archaic sin or crime

Word Origin for guilt

Old English gylt, of obscure origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for guilt

Old English gylt "crime, sin, fault, fine," of unknown origin, though some suspect a connection to Old English gieldan "to pay for, debt," but OED editors find this "inadmissible phonologically." The mistaken use for "sense of guilt" is first recorded 1680s. Guilt by association recorded by 1919.

"to influence someone by appealing to his sense of guiltiness," by 1995, from guilt (n.). Related: Guilted; guilting. Old English also had a verbal form, gyltan "to commit an offense."