Definitions for guilt
gɪltguilt

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. guilt, guiltinessnoun

   the state of having committed an offense

2. guilt, guilty conscience, guilt feelings, guilt tripnoun

   remorse caused by feeling responsible for some offense

GCIDE(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Guiltnoun

   A feeling of regret or remorse for having committed some improper act; a recognition of one's own responsibility for doing something wrong.

   Etymology: [OE. gilt, gult, AS. gylt, crime; probably originally signifying, the fine or mulct paid for an offence, and afterward the offense itself, and akin to AS. gieldan to pay, E. yield. See Yield, v. t.]

Webster Dictionary(5.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Guiltverb

   the criminality and consequent exposure to punishment resulting from willful disobedience of law, or from morally wrong action; the state of one who has broken a moral or political law; crime; criminality; offense against right

   Etymology: [OE. gilt, gult, AS. gylt, crime; probably originally signifying, the fine or mulct paid for an offence, and afterward the offense itself, and akin to AS. gieldan to pay, E. yield. See Yield, v. t.]

2. Guiltverb

   exposure to any legal penalty or forfeiture

   Etymology: [OE. gilt, gult, AS. gylt, crime; probably originally signifying, the fine or mulct paid for an offence, and afterward the offense itself, and akin to AS. gieldan to pay, E. yield. See Yield, v. t.]

Freebase(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Guilt

   Guilt is a cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes or believes—accurately or not—that he or she has compromised his or her own standards of conduct or has violated a moral standard, and bears significant responsibility for that violation. It is closely related to the concept of remorse.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Guilt

   gilt, n. punishable conduct: the state of having broken a law: crime: wickedness.—adv. Guilt′ily.—n. Guilt′iness.—adj. Guilt′less, free from crime: innocent.—adv. Guilt′lessly.—n. Guilt′lessness.—adj. Guilt′y, justly chargeable with a crime: wicked: pertaining to guilt.—adv. Guilt′y-like (Shak.), guiltily.—Guilty of (sometimes in B.), deserving. [Orig. a payment or fine for an offence; A.S. gylt, guilt—gildan, to pay, to atone.]

2. Guilt

   gilt, p.adj. (Spens.) gilded.

U.S. National Library of Medicine(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Guilt

   Subjective feeling of having committed an error, offense or sin; unpleasant feeling of self-criticism. These result from acts, impulses, or thoughts contrary to one's personal conscience.

Suggested Resources(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. guilt

   The guilt symbol -- In this Symbols.com article you will learn about the meaning of the guilt symbol and its characteristic.

Matched Categories

1. • Condition

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'guilt' in Nouns Frequency: #2024

How to pronounce guilt?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say guilt in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of guilt in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of guilt in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of guilt in a Sentence

1. Ramit Sethi:

   Yes, I want to go on vacation. Yes, I like nice clothes. Yes, I'm going to spend on these things guilt-free. I'm also going to invest, save, and make sure I can cover my rent.

2. Lisa Derderian:

   We are telling everyone, see mom virtually today, as much as you feel guilt on the front end for not seeing her, it's better than feeling guilt on the back end over the possibility you were carrying Covid-19 and you give it to mom or grandma, and the consequences were they got sick, or worse, it was fatal.

3. Bruce Sellery:

   Tradition because people think, 'This is the way it's always been done, and there is no other way to do it,' and guilt because people feel they have to buy more and more things that nobody really needs.

4. Bertram Schmitt:

   His guilt has been established beyond any reasonable doubt.

5. Titus Maccius Plautus:

   Nothing is more wretched than the mind of a man conscious of guilt.

Popularity rank by frequency of use