guilt
- 01 B1 Intermediate
n.the unhappy feeling you get when you think you have done something wrong or hurt someone.
n.the internal emotional state of remorse or self-reproach resulting from a perceived moral or social transgression.
Simple“He felt a deep sense of guilt for forgetting his mother's birthday.”
In context“The survivor was plagued by a persistent sense of guilt, questioning why he had escaped the accident while others had not.”
Antonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the fact of having broken a law or committed a crime.
n.the state of being legally responsible for a specific offence, either through a court's verdict or a confession.
Simple“The jury had to decide on the defendant's guilt or innocence.”
In context“The prosecution struggled to establish the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, as the physical evidence remained largely circumstantial.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to make someone feel guilty so that they will do what you want.
v.to induce a sense of remorse in another person, typically as a manipulative tactic to influence their actions.
Simple“Don't let her guilt you into going to the party if you are tired.”
In context“He tried to guilt his brother into lending him the money by reminding him of all the favours he had done in the past.”
UsageOften used with 'into' followed by a gerund.
Synonyms
“The silencer (which was discovered three days later in a downstairs cupboard by his relatives) played a crucial role in determining Bamber’s guilt during the trial.”
“Qin finds escape from her repetitive working life, and it helps quell the guilt she feels for being her family’s second daughter born under China’s one-child policy.”
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.
From Middle English gilten, gylten, from Old English gyltan (“to commit sin, be guilty”), from gylt (“guilt, sin, offense, crime, fault”).
From Etymology 1.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.