guilt trip

What it means

A guilt trip is the act of deliberately making another person feel ashamed or responsible in order to pressure them into doing what you want. As a verb — 'to guilt-trip someone' — it describes the manipulative tactic itself, common in family dynamics, friendships, and workplace interactions where direct requests get replaced by emotional pressure.

Examples

• My mom always lays a guilt trip on me when I can't visit for the holidays.
• Don't try to guilt-trip me into covering your shift again.
• He sent a long message clearly designed as a guilt trip after the breakup.
• I felt guilt-tripped into donating, even though I'd already given twice this year.

Where it comes from

An American coinage from the 1960s psychology scene, popularized by the transactional-analysis movement around Eric Berne's work. 'Trip' here borrows the era's countercultural sense of an intense mental experience, applied to the prolonged feeling of imposed guilt.

Related idioms