guiltnoun [ U ]
uk/ɡɪlt/us/ɡɪlt/guilt noun [ U ] (FEELING)
B2 a feeling of worry or unhappiness that you have because you have done something wrong, such as causing harm to another person:
He suffered such feelings of guilt over leaving his children.
She remembered with a pang of guilt that she hadn't called her mother.
More examples
- A sense of guilt was deeply embedded in my conscience.
- I've been gnawed by guilt about not replying to her letter yet.
- I admit I felt a twinge of guilt as we left.
- We've both suffered agonies of guilt over what happened.
- He's suffering from overpowering feelings of guilt.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Sadness and regret
- a heavy heart idiom
- be/weigh on your conscience idiom
- bitter
- bring a lump to/have a lump in your throat idiom
- broken-hearted
- gloom
- gloomy
- guilt complex
- guilt trip
- guilt-ridden
- guilt trip
- heartache
- lament
- melancholy
- mourn
- rue the day idiom
- rueful
- sackcloth
- sad
- sadly
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guilt noun [ U ] (RESPONSIBILITY)
B2 the fact of having done something wrong or committed a crime:
Both suspects admitted their guilt to the police.
The prosecution's task in a case is to establish a person's guilt beyond any reasonable doubt.
Compare
innocence
More examples
- The police have no definitive proof of her guilt.
- The prosecution has to establish his guilt beyond any reasonable doubt.
- A jury should not interpret the silence of a defendant as a sign of guilt.
- Newly-discovered documents cast doubt on the guilt of the two men.
- With so little evidence to prove her guilt, few people thought she should be hanged for murder.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Guilty
- answerable
- blameworthy
- blood
- convict
- conviction
- culpable
- have (sb's) blood on your hands idiom
- responsible
- suspect