Guilt Meaning
/ɡɪlt/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounResponsibility for wrongdoing.
nounThe state of having been found guilty or admitted guilt in legal proceedings.
Sentence Examples
Everything points to his guilt.
The fingerprints on the knife attest to her guilt.
She had feelings of guilt about leaving her children and going to work.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
None
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
After breaking the vase, the child felt a deep sense of ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He felt a deep sense of ____ after he realized that his careless comment had deeply hurt his best friend.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English gilt, gult, from Old English gylt (“guilt, sin, offense, crime, fault”), of obscure origin. Possibly related with Old English ġieldan (“to pay, requite, punish”) (whence yield), from Proto-West Germanic *guldijā (whence Middle High German gülte (“debt, fee, financial duty”), Middle Low German gülde, German Gülte), from Proto-West Germanic *geldan (“to pay for”), from Proto-Germanic *geldaną (“to pay”). However, neither the Old English stem form nor its ending -t (instead of -d) fit the continental form.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Appropriate guilt is experienced when we actually do something objectively wrong—for example, exploit another, betray a trust, and so on. […] Inappropriate guilt occurs from believing a lie and is resolved by an application of the truth."
— 2018, Timothy R. Jennings, The Aging Brain, →ISBN, page 158:
"Shame based parents would have guilted him for expressing anger."
— 1988, John Bradshaw, Healing the shame that binds you:
"We don't have to be manipulated, guilted, coerced, or forced into anything."
— 1992, Melody Beattie, Codependent No More: how to stop controlling others and start caring for yourself:
"But I won't be threatened or bribed or guilted into giving up something that's important to me."
— 1995, Nora Roberts, True Betrayals:
"Two silver monteths, two large fflaggons, two large tankards, two silver salvers, a voyder and a knyfe, two silver salts, two guilt bolls of the like size, one other boll, three silver bolls, in all 24 pieces guilt and unguilt."
— 1696, The Connoisseur, volume 5, published 1903, page 204:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After breaking the vase, the child felt a deep sense of ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He felt a deep sense of ____ after he realized that his careless comment had deeply hurt his best friend.