Responsible for doing something wrong or breaking a rule; having committed an offense or crime.
From Old English 'gylt' meaning offense or crime, combined with the suffix '-y'. The word evolved from Proto-Germanic roots and became standard in legal and moral contexts during Middle English.
The word 'guilty' is fascinating because it underwent a semantic shift—it originally just meant 'liable' or 'obligated,' but evolved to specifically mean 'having committed a crime.' This shows how language adapts when legal systems formalize, turning a general obligation into a specific legal status.
‘Guilty’ has been applied unevenly across genders, with women often judged more harshly in moral and sexual domains and sometimes presumed guilty in cases involving gender norms. Media portrayals can amplify this bias.
Use ‘guilty’ carefully, distinguishing legal findings from social judgment, and avoid gendered double standards in describing who is guilty of what.
["legally responsible","at fault","culpable"]
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