guilt

B1 Topic:Emotions & Feelings

US /ˈgɪlt/ UK /ɡɪlt/ See IPA manual

Freq #3268

Meanings

1

noun
The unhappy feeling you have when you know you have done something wrong.

She felt a deep sense of guilt for forgetting his birthday.
2

noun
The fact of having broken the law or done something wrong.

The jury had no doubt about the prisoner's guilt.
3

verb
To make someone feel guilty so that they do what you want.

He didn't want to go, but his wife guilted him into it.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the unhappy feeling you... remorse contrition compunctionself-reproachpenitence repentance

2 noun · the fact of having broken... guiltiness

More blameworthinessculpabilitynoninnocenceuninnocence

Opposites

innocence

Word family

Forms guilts

Derived forms beguiltbloodguiltecoguiltforguiltguilt-riddenguilt-sickguilt-tripguilt-trippyguilterguiltfreeguiltless guiltlessness

Related forms regret remorse

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

survivor guilt
guilt felt after surviving an event in which others died

Noun + noun

Etymology

From Middle English gilt, gult, from Old English gylt (“guilt, sin, offense, crime, fault”), of obscure origin, but possibly related with Old English ġieldan (“to pay, requite, punish”), whence yield. More specifically it could be connected with Proto-West Germanic *guldijā, whence Middle Low German gülde, Middle High German gülte (“debt, fee, financial duty”). However, neither the Old English stem form nor the -t (instead of -d) fit the continental form.

gilt Middle English gylt Old English *guldijā Proto-West Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Emotions & Feelings

External links

# guilt

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈgɪlt/
**IPA (UK):** /ɡɪlt/
**Frequency rank:** 3268

## Meanings
1. The unhappy feeling you have when you know you have done something wrong.
2. The fact of having broken the law or done something wrong.
3. To make someone feel guilty so that they do what you want.

## Examples
- She felt a deep sense of guilt for forgetting his birthday.
- The jury had no doubt about the prisoner's guilt.
- He didn't want to go, but his wife guilted him into it.

## Synonyms
- blameworthiness
- culpability
- guiltiness
- noninnocence
- uninnocence

## Antonyms
- innocence

## Derived Forms
- beguilt
- bloodguilt
- ecoguilt
- forguilt
- guilt-ridden
- guilt-sick
- guilt-trip
- guilt-trippy
- guilter
- guiltfree
- guiltless
- guiltlessness

## Related Forms
- regret
- remorse

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: gilt
- Root: gylt
- Root: *guldijā

## Etymology
From Middle English gilt, gult, from Old English gylt (“guilt, sin, offense, crime, fault”), of obscure origin, but possibly related with Old English ġieldan (“to pay, requite, punish”), whence yield. More specifically it could be connected with Proto-West Germanic *guldijā, whence Middle Low German gülde, Middle High German gülte (“debt, fee, financial duty”). However, neither the Old English stem form nor the -t (instead of -d) fit the continental form.

## AI Etymology
Guilt comes from Middle English gilt, gult, from Old English gylt (“guilt, sin, offense, crime, fault”), of obscure origin, but possibly related with Old English ġieldan (“to pay, requite, punish”), whence yield. More specifically it could be connected with Proto-West Germanic *guldijā, whence Middle Low German gülde, Middle High German gülte (“debt, fee, financial duty”). However, neither the Old English stem form nor the -t (instead of -d) fit the continental form. In current use, the main senses are “The unhappy feeling you have when you know you have done something wrong” and “The fact of having broken the law or done something wrong”.

## Topics
- Emotions & Feelings

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