guilt

guilt¹ [gılt] n [U]

[: Old English; Origin: gylt]

1.) a strong feeling of shame and sadness because you know that you have done something wrong

▪ He used to buy them expensive presents, out of guilt.

guilt about/at/over

▪ Don't you have any feelings of guilt about leaving David?

▪ He felt an enormous sense of guilt when he thought about how he'd treated her.

▪ I was racked with guilt at my part in making her this unhappy.

▪ Sometimes I felt little pangs of guilt .

2.) the fact that you have broken an official law or moral rule

≠ ↑innocence

▪ He made no attempt to deny his guilt.

3.) responsibility and blame for something bad that has happened

guilt for

▪ Guilt for poorly behaved children usually lies with the parents.

4.) be on a guilt trip informal

to have a feeling of guilt about something when it is unreasonable

5.) lay a guilt trip on sb

AmE informal to make someone feel bad about something

▪ I wish my parents would stop laying a guilt trip on me for not going to college.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

COLLOCATES for sense 1

feeling/sense of guilt

consumed/overwhelmed/racked with/by guilt (=feeling very guilty)

pang/twinge/stab of guilt (=a sudden feeling of guilt)

guilt complex (=when you cannot stop feeling very guilty)

burden of guilt (=a strong feeling of guilt)

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

guilt ²

guilt² v

guilt into [guilt sb into sth] phr v

to make someone feel guilty, so they will do what you want

guilt sb into doing sth

▪ Her parents guilted her into not going to the concert.