bloodguilt
Killer's moral stain
Bloodguilt is the state of being responsible for someone's death, particularly in moral or religious contexts.
The term carries weight beyond legal culpability—it implies a stain on the soul or conscience that demands atonement: The bloodguilt of the massacre haunted the village for generations.
In biblical usage, bloodguilt could contaminate an entire community until properly expiated.
Deserving blame for wrongdoing
- complicityShared criminal involvement
- conscienceInternal moral sense
- shamePainful awareness of failure
- dishonorLoss of respect
stigma · taint · defilement · wrongdoing · transgression · sin · self-condemnation · accountability
Redress for offense
- purificationRemoval of contaminants
- absolutionFormal clearing of guilt
- redemptionRecovery or moral restoration
- penanceSelf-mortification for wrongdoing
propitiation · scapegoat · reconciliation · sanctification · repentance · contrition · reparation · amends
Retaliation for injury
- nemesisPersistent source of ruin
- avengerRetribution dealer
- retaliationPunitive response to injury
- paybackRetaliation for wrongs
judgment · punishment · justice · requital · reprisal · comeuppance · reckoning · penalty
Biblical first killer
- AbelHebrew name meaning breath
- manslayerOne who commits homicide
- DeuteronomyFifth Torah book
- TorahJudaism's core scripture
culpability
Deserving blame for wrongdoing
- complicityShared criminal involvement
- conscienceInternal moral sense
- shamePainful awareness of failure
dishonor · stigma · taint · defilement · wrongdoing · transgression · sin · self-condemnation · accountability · responsibility
expiation
Redress for offense
- purificationRemoval of contaminants
- absolutionFormal clearing of guilt
- redemptionRecovery or moral restoration
penance · propitiation · scapegoat · reconciliation · sanctification · repentance · contrition · reparation · amends · restitution
vengeance
Retaliation for injury
- nemesisPersistent source of ruin
- avengerRetribution dealer
- retaliationPunitive response to injury
payback · judgment · punishment · justice · requital · reprisal · comeuppance · reckoning · penalty · redress
Cain
Biblical first killer
- AbelHebrew name meaning breath
- manslayerOne who commits homicide
- DeuteronomyFifth Torah book
vendetta
Prolonged retaliatory conflict
bloodguiltinnocence
Freedom from wrongdoing
blamelessness · guiltlessness · clean hands · clear conscience · exoneration
bloodguiltpurity
Uncontaminated quality
ritual purity · cleanness · sanctification · atonement · purification
blood, guilt, bleed, guilty, bloody, sanguine, bloodline, bloodshed, blooded