guilt trip

From guilt +‎ trip. First use appears c. 1972 in the novel Any Minute I Can Split by Judith Rossner.

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guilt trip (plural guilt trips)

1. (idiomatic) A feeling of shame or embarrassment, especially if self-indulgent, unwarranted, exaggerated or felt over a significant period of time.

   to go on a guilt trip

   to send someone on a guilt trip

   • 1972, Judith Rossner, Any Minute I Can Split, New York: McGraw-Hill, →ISBN, page 174:

     “I know what she’s talking about, too,” Roger said. “But I don’t see any way of getting around it. First of all, I want to make it clear that nobody’s sending me on any guilt trip over my money.”

   • 2014 November 27, Chad Broughton, “Black Friday, Through the Eyes of Smith and Marx”, in The Atlantic‎^[1]:

     Thinking about the origins of our stuff (and stuffing) should not preclude gleeful participation in tomorrow’s free-for-all, nor do I mean to send anyone on a guilt trip for enjoying traditions old and new.

   • 2017 April 6, Lisa Ko, “What ‘White’ Food Meant to a First-Generation Kid”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     My parents had survived war and dictatorship before the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 allowed more non-Europeans to immigrate to the United States, and they overcompensated for the austerity of their childhoods by allowing me to consume any food I wanted, with a side of guilt trip.

   • 2018 November 3, Robert Millsap, “Are Baby Boomers Being Selfish?”, in The New York Times‎^[3], →ISSN:

     I have done my part by paying taxes to sustain payments of anticipated benefits. If Mr. Kramon wants to go on a guilt trip, he can do so, but he is dead wrong that our generation shirked its responsibilities, and, frankly, I am getting tired of listening to this nonsense.

   • 2019 October 8, Peter Wilson, quoting Dickie Bannenberg, “No One Needs a Superyacht, but They Keep Selling Them”, in The New York Times‎^[4], →ISSN:

     “There are a few yacht-based movements and marine foundations, which are sometimes labeled as a yacht-owner’s guilt trip, that are part of the whole environmental conversation going on at the moment,” he added.

   • 2020 September 1, Alexander Starritt, “‘We Germans,’ Alexander Starritt by the Author: An Excerpt”, in The New York Times‎^[5], →ISSN:

     It’s true that I asked my opa some less than tactful questions on that visit. And as for that guilt trip about seeing him at least once more, yes, I saw him a bunch more times.

2. (idiomatic) An act that produces such a feeling.
   • 2013 June 27, “Letters: getting over the charitable giving guilt trip”, in The Guardian‎^[6], →ISSN:

     I must admit that I personally dislike this form of fundraising and consider it to be one of the worst ways to raise awareness for any charity, the only one worse than this is the ‘knock on the door’ at teatime with the same ‘guilt trip’ message hammered home by the young person in the charity shirt.

   • 2017 March 24, David Lammy, “Africa deserves better from Comic Relief”, in The Guardian‎^[7], →ISSN:

     Sections of the media are culpable of only describing two types of African – powerful and corrupt, or destitute and starving. But Comic Relief’s biennial guilt trip perpetuates these stereotypes and fails to move the debate on in a constructive way.

• ego trip

guilt trip (third-person singular simple present guilt trips, present participle guilt tripping, simple past and past participle guilt tripped)

1. Alternative form of guilt-trip.
   • 2011 May 12, David Burrows, Anna Simpson, Martin Wright, “Winning the persuasion game”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎^[8], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 August 2013:

     It succeeded in portraying environmentalists as guilt tripping, callous and vindictive – exactly the colours in which climate change deniers had been painting them for years.

   • 2019 August 5, Harriet Johnston, “Is YOUR partner a narcissist? Psychotherapist reveals the nine tell-tale signs - including ignoring your choices and giving you guilt trips”, in Daily Mail‎^[9], London: DMG Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 5 August 2019:

     You are always putting him first, even at your own expense. But you do it anyhow either because you feel obligated to, or are manipulated and guilt tripped into it.

   • 2022 May 12, The Learning Network, quoting B., “What Students Are Saying About Teen Mental Health, Moderating Speech and Special Talents”, in The New York Times‎^[10], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 May 2022:

     We are thrust into a world where we have to grow such a thick skin so fast. And when we cope with it in unhealthy ways we are guilt tripped and told we are faking it for attention.

   • 2023 April 27, Marisa Gerber, “‘Do y’all think tipping culture has gotten out of control?’ Inside our evolving tipping dilemma”, in Los Angeles Times‎^[11], Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 April 2023:

     “Where do you draw the line,” she [Rachel Mason] said, “of guilt tripping people into tipping?”

• “guilt trip”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “guilt trip, n, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “guilt trip”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “guilt trip”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “guilt trip” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2025.