guilty
Americanadjective
-
guiltier,
comparative
-
guiltiest
superlative
-
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:
Van Dyke has pleaded not guilty and is challenging the government’s claim that antifraud laws written for financial derivatives apply to prediction markets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
So when he discovers Jake is missing, Tom feels guilty as well as frantic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
Zhao and Binance had pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating anti-money-laundering rules on the exchange, which had become a global hub for money laundering and sanctions evasion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Philip Jerome, of Winchester, Hampshire, appeared at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court on his 49th birthday after pleading guilty to four breach charges.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Her eyes when she saw me there were like a guilty child’s.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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
A guiltier story — one shamed by bodies and temptation — might say that what Fleabag is wrestling with is a built-in moral pain, a form of original sin.
From New York Times ● May 16, 2019
Sure, he may succeed in keeping the report out of your hands, but he’ll only manage to appear even guiltier than he already looks.
From Salon ● Apr. 3, 2019
Chris was smiling at him in pure sweetness, which made Theo feel even guiltier about his resentment.
From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
That’s a shame, because the airline’s 11 outside directors are arguably the guiltiest of the guilty parties in the company’s recent fiasco, the most deserving of obloquy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 3, 2023
A John Mitchell, the campaign director, who Mason always thought looked the guiltiest.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 19, 2018
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
But as of today, you are as guilty as your guiltiest client, and your representation of that client—especially if it is both zealous and successful—is now disqualifying as well.
From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2014
Then he said the thing he knew would make her feel the guiltiest.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
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.
