guilt
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Regret for having done wrong.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
giltIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡɪlt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Regret for having done wrong.
Responsibility for wrongdoing.
law
The state of having been found guilty or admitted guilt in legal proceedings.
law
The state of having committed an offense
verb
transitiveinformal
To cause someone to feel guilt, particularly in order to influence their behaviour.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Regret for having done wrong.
Used this way, guilt is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- guiltiness , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use guilt
- “He felt a pang of guilt after forgetting his friend's birthday.”
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.