guilt

American  

[gilt] / gɪlt /

noun

guilt plural

1. the fact or state of having committed an offense, crime, violation, or wrong, especially against moral or penal law; culpability.

   He admitted his guilt.

   Antonyms:

   innocence

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

3. conduct involving the commission of such crimes, wrongs, etc..

   to live a life of guilt.

   Synonyms:

   criminality

---

verb (used with object)

Informal.

1. to cause to feel guilty (often followed by out orinto ).

   She totally guilted me out, dude. He guilted me into picking up the tab.

guilt British  

/ ɡɪlt /

noun

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

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

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

4. archaic sin or crime

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonguilt
  noun
• preguilt
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• guilt
  plural

Etymology

Origin of guilt

First recorded before 1000; Middle English gilt, Old English gylt “offense”

Explanation

You experience guilt when you feel bad about doing something wrong or committing some offense. Guilt is also the state of having committed the offense — it's the opposite of "innocence." The noun guilt stems from the Old English word gylt, meaning "crime, sin, fault, or fine." Feelings of guilt are typical after you've done something you shouldn't have, like cheating on your spelling test or stealing from your little brother's piggy bank. We often say that our conscience is the source of this feeling. If you're the prosecuting attorney in a criminal trial, your job is to prove the guilt of the defendant, that is, to prove that they committed the crime you're accusing them of.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

guilt

Victims are often cross-examined during the lengthy legal proceedings, which frequently deepens their sense of guilt, Tsang noted.

From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026

"I always remember the guilt attached to that, feeling like I was sort of farming them off somewhere rather than spending time with them," says Heptinstall.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

Universal body cameras would bring the truth to light and prove innocence more often than guilt.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

My guilt remains, like pain in a phantom limb, but the sofa holds us all.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

“Of course I do,” I said, shoving my guilt about Mr. Harris aside and climbing in the car beside him.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Related Words

• culpability
• disgrace
• indiscretion
• liability
• regret
• remorse
• responsibility
• shame
• sin
• stigma