guilt trip
7 synonyms for guilt trip, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — A deliberate attempt to make someone feel bad about themselves so that they will do what you want.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. noun informal
A deliberate attempt to make someone feel bad about themselves so that they will do what you want.
“Every time I mention moving abroad, my mother lays on the guilt trip.”
2. verb informal
To make someone feel guilty in order to pressure them into acting a certain way.
“Don't let them guilt trip you into working the weekend.”
How to use guilt trip
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
Informal but widely used, including in journalism and psychology writing.
Etymology
From guilt + trip. First use appears c. 1972 in the novel Any Minute I Can Split by Judith Rossner.
Full origin of guilt trip →