forguilt means to bring into a state of guilt; make guilty. It carries an Arena rating of 1608, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, forguilt ranks #103 of 13,220 for The Improbable, #220 of 13,220 for Scariest Words, #642 of 13,220 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #719 of 13,220 for Most Ponderous Words.
Why “forguilt” is a great word
To render someone guilty or to cause something to be lost through the fact or consequence of guilt. From Middle English forgilten, forgulten, from Old English forgyltan ('to sin, be or become guilty'), equivalent to the intensive prefix for- + guilt, the word is attested from around 1175. Unlike inculpate (which is to lay a charge) or forfeit (which is a neutral penalty), to forguilt is to bind cause and consequence in the heavy chain of culpability. It is the silent verdict that turns a crown into lead, the invisible stain that makes a house unloved, the slow corrosion of a name until it is no longer currency—the machinery by which a sin becomes a sentence, where the debt is paid in pieces of the self.
Etymology
From Middle English forgilten, forgulten (“to render guilty, forfeit by guilt”), from Old English forgyltan (“to sin, be or become guilty”), equivalent to for- + guilt.
verb
- To bring into a state of guilt; make guilty.
- To forfeit by guilty conduct; bring into by guilt.
- To be guilty.
Words closest in meaning
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