guilty
Feeling responsible for doing something wrong or being found to have broken the law.
Explanation at your level:
When you do something wrong, you feel guilty. It is a sad feeling. You might feel guilty if you break a friend's toy. It means you are sorry.
Being guilty means you did something bad. In court, a judge says 'guilty' if you broke the law. In daily life, you feel guilty when you make a mistake.
The word guilty is used to describe a person who has committed a crime or someone who feels bad about their actions. It is common to say 'I feel guilty about...' when you regret a past behavior.
Beyond the basic meaning, guilty often appears in phrases like 'guilty pleasure' or 'guilty conscience'. It implies a level of moral responsibility or accountability for one's actions, whether in a social or legal context.
In advanced usage, guilty can be used to describe an atmosphere, such as a 'guilty silence' where people feel uncomfortable because of a shared secret. It carries nuances of moral weight and social judgment that go beyond simple rule-breaking.
Historically and linguistically, guilty reflects the intersection of ethics and jurisprudence. It serves as a marker of the 'debt' one owes to society. In literature, it is often used to explore the psychological complexity of characters burdened by their past deeds.
Mot en 30 secondes
- Adjective describing wrongdoing.
- Used in legal and personal contexts.
- Noun form is guilt.
- Commonly paired with 'feel' or 'found'.
When you hear the word guilty, think of two main sides. First, there is the internal emotional side: that heavy, sinking feeling in your stomach when you know you've done something wrong. It is the weight of conscience.
Second, there is the legal side. This is when a court of law decides that a person is responsible for a crime. It is a serious term that carries significant weight in both our personal lives and our justice systems.
The word guilty comes from the Old English word gylt, which meant a crime, sin, or debt. Interestingly, in early Germanic languages, the concept of guilt was tied directly to the idea of owing something.
If you committed a gylt, you owed a payment or a punishment to make things right. Over centuries, the word evolved from strictly talking about financial or social debts to describing the psychological state of shame we associate with it today.
You will often hear people say they feel guilty about something. This is a very common way to express personal regret. For example, 'I feel guilty about eating the last cookie.'
In a legal setting, you say someone is found guilty or pleads guilty. These are formal collocations used by lawyers and journalists to describe the status of a defendant in court.
1. Guilty pleasure: Something you enjoy but feel slightly embarrassed about, like a trashy reality show. 2. A guilty conscience: When your mind won't let you forget a mistake. 3. Look guilty: To have an expression that suggests you are hiding something. 4. Guilty as charged: A phrase used to admit you are indeed wrong. 5. Presumed innocent until proven guilty: The cornerstone of many justice systems.
Guilty is an adjective, so it describes nouns. It is pronounced /ˈɡɪl.ti/ in both British and American English, with the stress on the first syllable. It rhymes with 'filthy' or 'built-y'.
Note that it is not a verb, so you cannot 'guilty' someone. You must use a verb phrase like 'to make someone feel guilty' or 'to find someone guilty'.
Fun Fact
The 'u' in guilty is a vestige of older spellings where the 'u' was pronounced, but it became silent over time.
Pronunciation Guide
Short 'i' sound, hard 'g'.
Similar to UK, clear 't'.
Common Errors
- Pronouncing the 'u' (it is silent)
- Hard 'g' as 'j'
- Adding an extra syllable
Rhymes With
Difficulty Rating
Easy to read
Easy to use
Clear pronunciation
Clear
What to Learn Next
Prerequisites
Learn Next
Avanc
Grammar to Know
Adjective usage
He is guilty.
Examples by Level
I feel guilty.
feeling bad
adjective
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
He is guilty.
I feel guilty for being late.
The jury said he was guilty.
Don't feel guilty.
She looked guilty.
It was a guilty look.
He pleaded guilty.
Are you guilty?
I have a guilty conscience.
It is a guilty pleasure of mine.
He was found guilty of theft.
She felt guilty about the lie.
They were guilty as charged.
Don't make me feel guilty.
The evidence proves he is guilty.
He admitted he was guilty.
The defendant was declared guilty by the jury.
I have a guilty pleasure for chocolate.
He suffered from a guilty conscience for years.
She felt a pang of guilty regret.
The guilty party must pay.
He looked guilty when asked about the money.
It is hard to prove someone guilty.
They were guilty of negligence.
The atmosphere in the room was thick with guilty silence.
He was guilty of a grave error in judgment.
She felt a guilty relief when the meeting was canceled.
The judge found him guilty on all counts.
His guilty expression gave him away immediately.
They were guilty of systemic corruption.
One cannot remain guilty of past mistakes forever.
The verdict was guilty.
The protagonist was haunted by a guilty conscience throughout the novel.
He was found guilty of high treason against the state.
The guilty pleasure of indulgence often leads to regret.
She was guilty of nothing more than being in the wrong place.
The jury's guilty verdict shocked the nation.
He bore the guilty weight of his family's secrets.
To be guilty is to be indebted to the moral order.
The evidence was sufficient to render a guilty verdict.
Synonymes
Collocations courantes
Idioms & Expressions
"guilty pleasure"
something you enjoy secretly
Watching cartoons is my guilty pleasure.
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Easily Confused
Noun vs adjective
Guilt is the feeling; guilty is the state.
I feel guilt (n) / I feel guilty (adj).
Sentence Patterns
Subject + be + guilty + of + noun
He is guilty of the crime.
Famille de mots
Nouns
Verbs
Adjectives
Apparenté
How to Use It
8
Formality Scale
Erreurs courantes
Guilty is an adjective, not a verb.
Tips
Memory Palace
Imagine a courtroom in your mind.
Native Usage
Use it to express regret.
Cultural Insight
Legal dramas use it constantly.
Grammar Shortcut
Always follow with 'of' or 'about'.
Say It Right
Silent 'u'.
Don't Make This Mistake
Don't use as a verb.
Did You Know?
It comes from the word 'debt'.
Study Smart
Use flashcards with collocations.
Memorize It
Mnemonic
G-U-I-L-T-Y: Get Under It, Look To Yourself.
Visual Association
A person looking down with a heavy weight on their shoulders.
Word Web
Défi
Write a sentence using 'guilty pleasure'.
Origine du mot
Old English
Original meaning: Crime, sin, or debt.
Contexte culturel
Can be a very sensitive topic in legal or personal contexts.
Used frequently in court dramas and daily emotional expression.
Practice in Real Life
Real-World Contexts
Legal
- found guilty
- plead guilty
- guilty verdict
Conversation Starters
"What is your biggest guilty pleasure?"
"Do you think it's easy to tell when someone feels guilty?"
"Have you ever been falsely accused of something?"
Journal Prompts
Write about a time you felt guilty.
Describe a guilty pleasure you have.
Questions fréquentes
15 questionsNo, it is an adjective.
Teste-toi
I feel ___ because I broke the plate.
Guilty describes the bad feeling.
What does it mean to be guilty?
Guilty means responsible for a wrong.
You can be found guilty in a court of law.
This is a standard legal term.
Word
Signification
Matches the idiom.
Subject + verb + adjective.
Score : /5
Summary
Guilty describes the weight of wrongdoing, whether in a court of law or your own heart.
- Adjective describing wrongdoing.
- Used in legal and personal contexts.
- Noun form is guilt.
- Commonly paired with 'feel' or 'found'.
Memory Palace
Imagine a courtroom in your mind.
Native Usage
Use it to express regret.
Cultural Insight
Legal dramas use it constantly.
Grammar Shortcut
Always follow with 'of' or 'about'.
Exemple
I feel guilty because I forgot to call my mom on her birthday.
Related Content
Voir dans les vidéos
1:48
Shawshank Redemption - by the time the warden retires,
"I feel guilty because I forgot to call my mom on her birthday."
1:42
Fleabag--Women's pain
"I feel guilty because I forgot to call my mom on her birthday."
4:13
Hope is the good thing(The Shawshank Redemption 1994).
"I feel guilty because I forgot to call my mom on her birthday."
Ce mot dans d'autres langues
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