Chinese word

内疚

Pronunciation

Pinyinnèi jiù

Meaning

  • adjectiveguilty

Example

他为没帮忙感到内疚。tā wèi méi bāng máng gǎn dào nèi jiù

He feels guilty about not helping.

Illustration for 内疚 (guilty)

More examples

向朋友道歉后，他不再内疚。xiàng péng yǒu dào qiàn hòu tā bú zài nèi jiù

After apologizing to his friend, he no longer feels guilty.

Core concept

An uneasy weight in the heart when a person believes they have done wrong or failed someone who depended on them.

Common phrases

  • 有点内疚yóu diǎn nèi jiù

    a little guilty

  • 感到内疚gǎn dào nèi jiù

    feel guilty

Similar words

愧疚kuì jiù: Feeling deeply remorseful and burdened by the belief that one has done wrong.
抱歉bào qiàn: Feeling sorry for troubling or offending someone and wanting to apologize.
惭愧cán kuì: Feeling ashamed and uncomfortable because of a failure or embarrassing mistake.

Definition in Chinese

因为自己做错事或没有尽到责任而在心里感到愧疚、不安。yīn wèi zì jǐ zuò cuò shì huò méi yǒu jǐn dào zé rèn ér zài xīn lǐ gǎn dào kuì jiù bù ān

Word origin

内疚 (nèijiù, "remorse") joins 内 (nèi, "inside") with 疚 (jiù, "remorse"), making the inward location of the troubled feeling part of the word.

Usage tips

  • Unlike guilty in legal English, this word usually describes a personal feeling rather than a court's finding.

Other meanings

  • sorryadjective
  • guiltnoun

Opposites

  • 无愧wú kuìfree of guiltadjective

Related words

  • 内疚感nèi jiù gǎnguiltnoun

Word lists with this word