tinge of guilt
1
6.0
- noun
- /tɪndʒ əv ɡɪlt/
:
matiz de culpa
- feel a tinge of guilt
Examples
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I had a bad headache yesterday, and I still felt the tinge of guilt from skipping church.
Blog text (32) -
The U.S. is granting more requests to victims like Ann, who said she's grateful but also can't help but feel a tinge of guilt.
Blog text (15) -
Note that this question is slightly different from asking, "What is better for me in the long run?" or, "What will lead to greater long-term happiness?"—two questions that often cause a tinge of guilt or moral dilemma.
Blog text (9) -
After forgetting to help her friend move, she felt a tinge of guilt for not being there.
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He expressed a tinge of guilt when he realized he had hurt her feelings with his words.
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Even though he enjoyed the party, there was a tinge of guilt for not attending his grandmother's birthday.
Synonyms
375
2.4
A feeling of being sorry and responsible for doing something wrong
10
9.6
A feeling of guilt that stops you from doing something bad or follows it
Antonyms
How Guilty
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is fully compositional: 'tinge' denotes a slight trace and 'guilt' denotes remorse, with 'of' marking the partitive relation, so the phrase simply means 'a slight amount of guilt'. This construction (a trace/tinge of X) is common and mirrors patterns in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Tinge of guilt comes from the idea of a tiny touch of colour, because tinge means a faint colour or stain. Imagine a small mark on white cloth that you notice but is not large; that small mark is like a small feeling of guilt, so the phrase means 'a slight feeling of guilt'.