white guilt

noun

The individual or collective guilt felt by some white people for harm resulting from past or current racist treatment of other ethnicities by white people.

First used 1960s
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Meanings

nounwhite guilt (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe individual or collective guilt felt by some white people for harm resulting from past or current racist treatment of other ethnicities by white people.First known use 1960s

    Is white guilt supposed to make me forget I'm running a business?

    1997, Quentin Tarantino, Jackie Brown, spoken by Max Cherry (Robert Forster)

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 白人内疚
  • 白人内疚 (báirén nèijiù)guilt
Finnish valkoinen syyllisyys
  • valkoinen syyllisyysguilt
French culpabilité blanche
  • culpabilité blancheguilt
Hungarian fehér bűntudat
  • fehér bűntudatguilt
Cite this entry
APA

white guilt. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/white%20guilt

MLA

“white guilt.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/white%20guilt. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “white guilt,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/white%20guilt.

Source: white guilt on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.