Gilt refers to something covered in gold, whether gold leaf or gold paint. Gilt means gilded. Gilt may be used as an adjective or noun. Gilt is the past participle of the Middle English word gilden. Gilt may also refer to a young female pig, or gilts, fixed-interest loan securities secured by the British government.
Guilt is the fact of being responsible for wrongdoing or the feeling of being responsible for wrongdoing or failing at some responsibility. Guilt is primarily used as a noun, though guilt as a verb has been gaining favor since the 1990s. Guilt comes from the Old English word gylt, meaning crime, sin, moral defect, failure of duty.
Examples
You might sniff at the candidateâs over-the-top taste for gilt furniture, but the extravagance is an overt sign of material success â success that Trump the host shares with his guests. (The Washington Post)
But an air of gentility surrounds the bar, whose gilt mirror and marble inlays transport with turn-of-the-century glamour. (D Magazine)
After sighting the Amber Cabinet, I amble taking in all the beauties of the Ivory Room, the White Silver Room, the Silver Gilt Room, until I arrive at the Hall of Precious Objects. (The Deccan Herald)
Pete Junior High student Cole Vogel, 13, and his 17-year-old Conroe High School brother Caleb Vogel set out for the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo in mid-February with one goal in mind: winning the junior gilt show and bringing home $10,000. (The Courier)
Gilts auctions resemble The Weakest Link, whose cruelty was implicit in the bloodless wink with which Anne Robinson closed each episode of the TV quiz. (The Financial Times)
“My guilt is assignment-based,” says Rapacon, who freelances from New Jersey and didn’t get sick-day remorse when she worked full time for an employer. (U.S. News & World Report)
Ebeling, 89, has won national awards for his volunteer work at the bird refuge and is a beloved member of his community, but few people knew the debilitating guilt he still suffered â until January, when an NPR report on the catastrophe, and Ebelingâs desperate attempt to prevent it, opened a floodgate of love. (The Deseret News)