guiltily

guiltily — adverb

1. describing an action, expression, or tone of voice that reveals a person's inner

1.adverbB2
Definition

describing an action, expression, or tone of voice that reveals a person's inner awareness of having done something wrong or failed in a duty, often mixed with a wish to hide this from others

Example

Aiko glanced guiltily at the empty cookie jar on the kitchen counter.

verb + guiltily: glanced guiltily at [something]

Ravi guiltily admitted that he had forgotten to return the library books.

guiltily + verb + that-clause

Common collocations
  • glanced guiltily
  • smiled guiltily
  • admitted guiltily
  • guiltily avoided
  • guiltily aware
  • guiltily confessed
Synonyms
  • remorsefully

    stronger emotional weight; suggests deep regret and a wish to undo the harm caused, whereas guiltily can also describe mild or furtive wrongdoing

  • sheepishly

    more about embarrassment than moral guilt; used when the wrongdoing is minor or awkward rather than serious

  • apologetically

    focuses on expressing regret to another person, whereas guiltily may describe an internal feeling not necessarily communicated

  • ashamedly

    highlights a loss of self-respect or dignity; guiltily can describe actions driven by a desire to hide wrongdoing rather than by shame

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

adverb before verb (guiltily admitted)

adverb after verb (smiled guiltily)

adverb before adjective (guiltily aware)

Usage Note

Frequently modifies verbs describing speech (admitted, whispered, confessed), facial expressions (smiled, glanced, looked), or furtive actions (hid, deleted, avoided). The adverb can appear either before or after the verb it modifies, with slightly different emphasis: before the verb ('guiltily admitted') stresses the manner of the action itself; after the verb ('smiled guiltily') emphasises the action first and adds the manner as a secondary quality.

Common Mistakes

He felt guiltily about forgetting her birthday.
He felt guilty about forgetting her birthday.
After linking verbs such as 'feel', 'look', or 'seem', use the adjective 'guilty', not the adverb 'guiltily'.

Word family

  • guilt
    nounB1
  • guilty
    adjectiveB1
  • guiltless
    adjectiveC1
  • guiltiness
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adverb/1

All five adverbs describe ways of acting after a real or perceived fault, but they differ in emotional focus. 'Guiltily' is the most general — it covers everything from furtive glances after eating a stolen cookie to quietly confessing a broken promise. 'Remorsefully' carries stronger moral weight; it implies deep regret and a desire to make amends, while 'guiltily' can describe even minor, humorous situations. 'Sheepishly' leans toward embarrassment rather than guilt — you look sheepish after tripping in public, not after cheating on a test. 'Apologetically' centres on expressing regret to someone else, whereas 'guiltily' can be a purely internal feeling with no outward apology. 'Ashamedly' adds a layer of lost dignity or self-respect — you might ashamedly acknowledge a failure, but guiltily sneak a peek at someone's private message. Choose 'guiltily' when the action is driven by a sense of fault, regardless of whether the feeling is serious or light.

guiltily ↗remorsefullysheepishlyapologetically ↗ashamedly

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • a little guiltily
  • almost guiltily
  • slightly guiltily

Phrases

  • with a guiltily guilty expression
  • guiltily aware that

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Formed from the adjective 'guilty' which comes from Old English 'gyltig', meaning 'liable to punishment for an offense'. The base noun 'gylt' meant 'crime, sin, fault, or debt'. The suffix '-ily' (a variant of '-ly') turns the adjective into an adverb indicating 'in a manner of'. Over time the word broadened from its legal sense of criminal liability to describe any internal feeling of fault or regret, even in trivial everyday situations.