guilt ‧ y S2 W3 /ˈɡɪlti/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ guilt , guiltiness; adjective : ↑ guilty , ↑ guilt-ridden ; adverb : ↑ guiltily ]
1 . ASHAMED feeling very ashamed and sad because you know that you have done something wrong
guilty about/at
I feel really guilty at forgetting her birthday again.
She looked self-conscious and guilty.
It was his guilty conscience that made him offer to help.
REGISTER
In everyday English, people often say that they feel bad about something rather than say that they feel guilty about it:
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I feel bad about leaving him on his own.
2 . OF A CRIME having done something that is a crime OPP innocent
guilty of
The jury found her guilty of murder.
He was found not guilty of the death of PC Jones.
He pleaded guilty to two charges of theft.
3 . responsible for behaviour that is morally or socially unacceptable
be guilty of doing something
Some journalists are guilty of reporting scandal in order to sell papers.
4 . the guilty party formal the person who has done something illegal or wrong
—guiltily adverb
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THESAURUS (for Meaning 2)
▪ guilty if someone is guilty of a crime or doing something wrong, they did it, and they should be punished for it:
She was found guilty of murder.
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He was guilty of serious misconduct.
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The two guilty men were ordered to pay damages to their victims.
▪ responsible [not before noun] used when saying who should be blamed for something bad that has happened:
Police believe a local gang is responsible for the burglaries.
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As manager, he is ultimately responsible for the failure of the project.
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The other driver was responsible for the accident.
▪ be to blame if someone is to blame for a bad situation, they are responsible:
The government is partly to blame for the crisis.
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If anything goes wrong, it’s never him that is to blame.
▪ culpable /ˈkʌlpəb ə l/ formal responsible for something bad or illegal, so that you deserve to be blamed or punished:
The people who helped the terrorists are equally culpable for what happened on July 7th.
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He pleaded guilty to culpable homicide (=being guilty of causing someone’s death) .
▪ negligent /ˈneɡlɪdʒ ə nt/ [not usually before noun] responsible for something bad that has happened, because you did not take enough care, or you did not try to stop it from happening:
The court decided that the railway company was negligent.
▪ be in the wrong to be responsible for an accident, mistake etc – used when deciding which person, group etc should be blamed:
The other driver was clearly in the wrong.
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She always thinks it’s me who is in the wrong.
▪ incriminating used about things which seem to show that someone is guilty of a crime:
incriminating evidence
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incriminating documents
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He didn’t want to say anything incriminating.