How to say "guilty" in Japanese

• 後ろめたいうしろめたいCommon
  i-adjectiveThe common word for the emotional sense of 'guilty': a guilty feeling, guilty conscience, or guilty look. It suggests an uneasy sense of one's own wrongdoing, and is also used simply for feeling uneasy.
  彼かれはそうする事ことに後うしろめたさを感かんじなかった。↗

  He had no qualms in doing so.
• ギルティ
  na-adjectiveA katakana loanword, less common, that simply adopts the English word 'guilty'. For the feeling of guilt or a guilty conscience, 後ろめたい is the common word, so this loanword is seldom what you want.
• 身に覚えのあるみにおぼえのある
  expression, prenominal modifierLess common than 後ろめたい, it describes a guilty look or expression, drawing on its literal sense of remembering something one did oneself. It also means familiar (to one).
  だれか身みに覚おぼえのある人ひとがいるんじゃないか。↗

  There's somebody here who did it, isn't there?

For the feeling of guilt — a guilty conscience or look — 「後ろめたい」 is the common word; 「ギルティ」 is the less common loanword; and 「身に覚えのある」 describes a guilty look or expression on someone who remembers doing it.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 後ろめたいうしろめたいguilty (feeling, conscience, look, etc.)
• ギルティguilty
• 身に覚えのあるみにおぼえのあるhaving the memory of having done something oneself