guilt

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ɡɪlt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Homophone: gilt
• Rhymes: -ɪlt

Etymology 1

From Middle English gilt, gult, from Old English gylt (“guilt, sin, offense, crime, fault”), of obscure origin, but possibly related with Old English ġieldan (“to pay, requite, punish”), whence yield. More specifically it could be connected with Proto-West Germanic *guldijā, whence Middle Low German gülde, Middle High German gülte (“debt, fee, financial duty”). However, neither the Old English stem form nor the -t (instead of -d) fit the continental form.

Noun

guilt (usually uncountable, plural guilts)

1. Responsibility for wrongdoing.

   Antonym: innocence

2. (law) The state of having been found guilty or admitted guilt in legal proceedings.

   Antonym: innocence

3. Regret for having done wrong.

   Synonym: remorse

   • 2018, Timothy R. Jennings, The Aging Brain, →ISBN, page 158:

     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.

Derived terms

• beguilt
• bloodguilt
• ecoguilt
• forguilt
• guilt complex
• guilter
• guiltfree
• guilt lane
• guiltless
• guiltlessness
• guiltlike
• guilt offering
• guiltridden
• guilt-ridden
• guilt-sick
• guilt-trip
• guilt trip
• guilt-trippy
• guiltware
• guilty
• liberal guilt
• magician's guilt
• misguilt
• nonguilt
• self-guilt
• survivor guilt
• unguilt
• white guilt

Translations

responsibility for wrongdoing

• Afrikaans: skuld
• Albanian: faj (sq)
• Arabic: ذَنْب m (ḏanb), خِطْء m (ḵiṭʔ), إِثْم (ar) m (ʔiṯm), جُرْم m (jurm)

  Egyptian Arabic: ذنب m (zanb)

• Armenian: մեղք (hy) (meġkʻ)
• Assamese: দোষ (düx)
• Avar: гӏайиб (ʻajib)
• Bashkir: ғәйеп (ğəyep), яуаплылыҡ (yawaplılıq)
• Belarusian: віна́ f (viná)
• Bengali: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: вина́ (bg) (viná)
• Catalan: culpabilitat (ca) f, culpa (ca) f
• Chakma: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 罪狀 / 罪状 (zh) (zuìzhuàng), 罪疚 (zh) (zuìjiù), 有罪 (zh) (yǒuzuì)

• Czech: vina (cs) f
• Danish: skyld
• Dhivehi: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: schuld (nl)
• Estonian: süü (et)
• Finnish: syyllisyys (fi)
• French: culpabilité (fr) f
• Galician: culpa (gl) f
• Georgian: ბრალი (brali)
• German: Schuld (de) f
• Greek: ενοχή (el) (enochí)
• Hebrew: אַשְׁמָה (he) (ashmá)
• Hindi: अपराध (hi) m (aprādh), क़सूर m (qasūr)
• Hungarian: bűn (hu)
• Indonesian: kesalahan (id)
• Irish: ciontacht f
• Italian: colpa (it)
• Japanese: 有罪 (ja) (ゆうざい, yūzai), 責任 (ja) (sekinin)
• Korean: 죄 (ko) (joe), 유죄(有罪) (yujoe)
• Latin: culpa
• Latvian: vaina, vainīgums m, vainība f
• Macedonian: вина f (vina)
• Malay: bersalah
• Malayalam: കുറ്റബോധം (kuṟṟabōdhaṁ)
• Maltese: dnub m
• Mongolian: гэм (mn) (gem)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: skyld m or f

  Nynorsk: skyld f

• Nǀuu: please add this translation if you can
• Occitan: culpabilitat (oc) f, culpa (oc) f
• Old English: sċyld f, gylt m
• Ottoman Turkish: صوچ (suç), ذنب (zenb)
• Papiamentu: kulpa
• Persian: جرم (fa) (jorm), گناه (fa) (gonâh)
• Plautdietsch: Schult f
• Polish: wina (pl) f
• Portuguese: culpa (pt)
• Rohingya: háta
• Romanian: păcat (ro) n, vină (ro) f
• Russian: вина́ (ru) f (viná), вино́вность (ru) f (vinóvnostʹ), прови́нность (ru) f (provínnostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: кривѝца, кри́вња f

  Roman: krivìca (sh), krívnja (sh) f

• Sicilian: curpa (scn)
• Slovak: vina
• Slovene: krivda (sl) f
• Spanish: culpa (es) f
• Swahili: hatia (sw)
• Swedish: skuld (sv) c, skuldkänsla (sv) c
• Sylheti: please add this translation if you can
• Tagalog: kasalanan
• Tajik: гуноҳ (tg) (gunoh)
• Telugu: అపరాధభావన (aparādhabhāvana)
• Thai: ความรู้สึกผิด (kwaam róo-sèuk pìt), ตราบาป (th) (dtraa bàap)
• Tongan: halaia
• Turkish: suç (tr)
• Ukrainian: вина́ f (vyná), прови́на (uk) f (provýna)
• Urdu: اپرادھ m (aprādh), قصور m (qasūr)
• Uzbek: ayb (uz), gunoh (uz)
• Vietnamese: điều sai quấy, lỗi (vi), lỗi lầm (vi)
• Welsh: euogrwydd (cy)
• West Frisian: skuld
• Yiddish: שולד f (shuld)
• Yucatec Maya: kuch

legal

• Albanian: fajsia (sq)
• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: մեղավորություն (hy) (meġavorutʻyun)
• Belarusian: віна́ f (viná), вінава́тасць f (vinavátascʹ), ві́ннасць f (vínnascʹ)
• Bulgarian: вина (bg) f (vina)
• Catalan: culpabilitat (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 犯罪 (zh) (fànzuì), 有罪 (zh) (yǒuzuì)

• Czech: vina (cs) f
• Dutch: schuld (nl)
• Finnish: syyllisyys (fi)
• French: culpabilité (fr) f
• Galician: culpabilidade (gl) f
• German: Schuld (de) f
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: bűnösség (hu)
• Italian: colpevolezza (it) f
• Japanese: 有罪 (ja) (yūzai)
• Korean: 범죄 (ko) (peomjoe)
• Latin: crimen n, reatitudo n
• Latvian: vaina f, vainīgums m, vainība f
• Old English: sċyld f
• Polish: wina (pl) f
• Portuguese: culpa (pt) f
• Russian: вина́ (ru) f (viná), вино́вность (ru) f (vinóvnostʹ), прови́нность (ru) f (provínnostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can
• Sicilian: curpa (scn) f, curpavilità f, curpavilizza f
• Spanish: culpabilidad f
• Ukrainian: вина́ f (vyná), винува́тість f (vynuvátistʹ), ви́нність f (výnnistʹ), прови́нність f (provýnnistʹ)
• Vietnamese: tội lỗi (vi)

regret for having done wrong

• Arabic: نَدَم (ar) m (nadam)
• Armenian: մեղքի զգացում (meġkʻi zgacʻum)
• Belarusian: віна́ f (viná)
• Bulgarian: виновност (bg) f (vinovnost)
• Catalan: penediment (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 內疚 / 内疚 (zh) (nèijiù)

• Czech: vina (cs) f
• Dutch: schuldgevoel (nl) n
• Finnish: syyllisyydentunne, syyllisyys (fi)
• French: sentiment de culpabilité m
• Galician: culpa (gl) f
• German: Schuldgefühl (de) n
• Greek: τύψη (el) f (týpsi)
• Hindi: अपराधबोध (aprādhbodh), आत्मग्लानि (ātmaglāni), दोष-भावना (doṣ-bhāvnā), दोषबोध (doṣbodh), अपराध-भावना (aprādh-bhāvnā)
• Hungarian: bűntudat (hu)
• Italian: senso di colpa (it) m
• Japanese: 罪悪感 (ja) (ざいあくかん, zaiakukan)
• Korean: 죄책감 (ko) (joechaekgam)
• Latvian: vaina f
• Malayalam: കുറ്റബോധം (kuṟṟabōdhaṁ)
• Maori: kaniawhea
• Persian: پشیمانی (fa) (pašimâni)
• Portuguese: culpa (pt) f
• Russian: вина́ (ru) f (viná), чу́вство вины́ n (čúvstvo viný)
• Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can
• Sicilian: curpa (scn) f, pintimentu m
• Spanish: culpa (es) f, remordimiento (es) m
• Swedish: skuld (sv) c
• Ukrainian: вина́ (vyná), почуття́ вини́ (počuttjá vyný)
• Vietnamese: cảm giác tội lỗi

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 罪行 (zh) (zuìxíng)

• Czech: ^{(please verify)} vina (cs) f
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} schuldig (nl)
• French: ^{(please verify)} remords (fr) f
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} colpevolezza (it) m
• Malay: ^{(please verify)} bersalah
• Portuguese: ^{(please verify)} culpa (pt) f
• Russian: ^{(please verify)} вина́ (ru) f (viná), вино́вность (ru) f (vinóvnostʹ)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} culpabilidad f

See also

• regret

Etymology 2

From Middle English gilten, gylten, from Old English gyltan (“to commit sin, be guilty”), from gylt (“guilt, sin, offense, crime, fault”).

Verb

guilt (third-person singular simple present guilts, present participle guilting, simple past and past participle guilted)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To commit offenses; act criminally.

Etymology 3

From etymology 1.

Verb

guilt (third-person singular simple present guilts, present participle guilting, simple past and past participle guilted)

1. (transitive, informal) To cause someone to feel guilt, particularly in order to influence their behaviour.

   He didn't want to do it, but his wife guilted him into it.

   • 1988, John Bradshaw, Healing the shame that binds you:

     Shame based parents would have guilted him for expressing anger.

   • 1992, Melody Beattie, Codependent No More: how to stop controlling others and start caring for yourself:

     We don't have to be manipulated, guilted, coerced, or forced into anything.

   • 1995, Nora Roberts, True Betrayals:

     But I won't be threatened or bribed or guilted into giving up something that's important to me.