guilty
Americanadjective
-
guiltier,
comparative
-
guiltiest
superlative
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having committed an offense, crime, violation, or wrong, especially against moral or penal law; justly subject to a certain accusation or penalty; culpable.
The jury found her guilty of murder.
-
characterized by, connected with, or involving guilt.
guilty intent.
-
having or showing a sense of guilt, whether real or imagined.
a guilty conscience.
adjective
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responsible for an offence or misdeed
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law having committed an offence or adjudged to have done so
the accused was found guilty
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law (of a person charged with an offence) to admit responsibility; confess
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of, showing, or characterized by guilt
a guilty smile
guilty pleasures
Usage
What does guilty mean? If you’re guilty, it means you were responsible for doing something wrong, especially a crime. If you’re found guilty, it means a jury has officially decided that you committed a crime. If you feel guilty, it means you feel bad about something you shouldn’t have done or should have done but didn’t. In a legal context, guilty is the opposite of innocent (not guilty). It is often used in an official sense, but not always. Example: Once when I was a kid I shoplifted a stick of gum from the store and felt so guilty about it that I was crying by the time I got home.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of guilty
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English gyltig; equivalent to guilt + -y 1
Compare meaning
How does guilty compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Someone guilty has done something wrong or illegal. And when you do something wrong, you feel guilty — bad or sorry — about it. The police are responsible for finding out who’s guilty of a crime so they can be arrested, convicted, and punished. But you can also be guilty of smaller, more legal things, like cheating on a test, breaking the rules of a game, or thinking awful things. If you’ve done it, then you’re guilty of it: so if someone asks if you have a crush on your swim instructor, you can say “guilty!”
Vocabulary lists containing guilty
In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Feeling Sorry?
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Hooked on a Feeling, List 2
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Reiner has pleaded not guilty to the stabbings and remains legally innocent unless he changes his plea or is convicted by a jury.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
They’ve pleaded not guilty, with the mother saying in an interview with investigators that she thought having a green card meant she could vote.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
But his promotion was accelerated when Charlie was sent to prison in Alabama in 2005 after pleading guilty to tax evasion and making illegal campaign contributions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
“Today’s guilty plea makes clear that harming or harassing our marine wildlife has serious consequences.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
"The guilty person probably took them," Nancy decided.
From "Case of the Sneaky Snowman: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #5" by Carolyn Keene
A guiltier pleasure is attempting to go above and beyond anything your parents may have done for you.
From Salon ● Dec. 25, 2024
This would make any nurse look guiltier with each job change.
From Science Magazine ● Jan. 18, 2023
She wrote that his “fictionalized version of me is just the tabloid conspiracy guiltier version of me.”
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 30, 2021
Given that criticising someone for feeling guilty is only going to make them feel guiltier, guilt has, as we’ve seen, proved a tricky opponent – one that its various modern combatants have yet to defeat.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 3, 2017
He’s not ready for me like he usually is, which makes me feel even guiltier.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
So he'll continue to act like the guiltiest man alive.
From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2024
For the brave viewer ready to commit to the summer’s guiltiest pleasure, here’s a complete guide.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2022
The person who comes out looking guiltiest isn’t Trump or Pence.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2017
Last year, British Vogue announced “The Return of the Ugg Boot”, declaring them “our guiltiest fashion pleasure … the sheepskin Ugg is no longer the preserve of a hungover milk run, or the yummy mummy.”
From The Guardian ● Mar. 30, 2016
Josie couldn’t even tell which specific scene he was talking about, or which awful thing one of them had done to the other she felt maddest or guiltiest about.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
