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guilt by association

Cultural  
  1. The attribution of guilt to individuals because of the people or organizations with which they associate, rather than because of any crime that they have committed.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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There are good reasons of privacy and unfair guilt by association not to dump hundreds of thousands of pages of raw FBI investigatory files into the public arena.

From The Wall Street Journal Nov. 13, 2025

Morris, who is Black, called claims of racism preposterous and said it was a campaign of guilt by association.

From Salon Nov. 14, 2024

This allowed the researchers to group genes into common clusters that revealed the role of each gene through "guilt by association."

From Science Daily May 23, 2024

“His critics continue to engage in guilt by association for comments that were not his,” the document said.

From Los Angeles Times Oct. 8, 2023

Most people outside the System are there because they've been Suspended for supposed infractions, or they've been put out through guilt by association, or because they were born into a family already in that condition.

From Cerebrum by Birmingham, Lloyd

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