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guilty

adjective · noun

Simple meaning

Judged to have committed a crime.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

giltee

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɡɪlti

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. law

    Judged to have committed a crime.

  2. Responsible for or chargeable with a reprehensible act

  3. Responsible for a dishonest act.

  4. Having a sense of guilt.

  5. Blameworthy.

noun

  1. law

    A verdict of a judge or jury on a defendant judged to have committed a crime.

  2. law

    A plea by a defendant who does not contest a charge.

  3. One who is declared guilty of a crime.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Judged to have committed a crime.

Used this way, guilty is a specialist word with a faintly unfavourable edge. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.

Emotional tone
Slightly negative
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Critical or judgemental
Usage feel
Clinical and detached

Where it naturally appears

  • Law/legal
  • Government/politics
  • Academic writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use guilty

  • “He felt guilty after forgetting his friend's birthday party.”

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Judged / verdict

guilty verdict

Plea

guilty plea

Other combinations

guilty consciencepleaded guiltyguilty partyguilty person

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • guilty consciencenounCompound term

    Remorse caused by feeling responsible for some offense.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • guilt pangnounRelated term

    Pangs of feeling guilty.

  • guilt by associationnounRelated term

    The attribution of guilt (without proof) to individuals because the people they associate with are guilty.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Antonyms

Sense: judged to have committed a crime

innocentguiltless

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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.