Guilt

Podcast 1 · Introduction

Guilt

A documentary-style narration: origin, meaning, and feel.

Part of speech

noun

Pronunciation

gilt  /ɡɪlt/

Definition

The state of having committed an offence or done something wrong; the feeling of responsibility for a wrongdoing; in law, the state of being found legally responsible for a crime.

Plain meaning

Guilt is both the fact of having done something wrong and the feeling that comes with it — the emotional weight of responsibility for harm done, whether or not it was intentional.

Register

Neutral to serious. Guilt is used in legal, psychological, moral, and everyday contexts. The legal sense — guilt or innocence, a verdict of guilty — is precise and formal. The psychological sense — feeling guilty, carrying guilt — is widely used. Guilt-trip as a verb or noun is informal — to guilt-trip someone is to manipulate them using guilt.