have blood on one's hands
Culpable for deaths
To have blood on one's hands is to bear responsibility for death or serious harm: The general has blood on his hands for ordering the massacre.
The phrase implies moral guilt rather than direct physical involvement—a politician who cuts healthcare funding has blood on their hands even without touching anyone.
Sometimes extended to lesser wrongs: Every investor in that company has blood on their hands.
- complicityShared criminal involvement
- murderDeliberate unlawful killing
- regretSorrow over past actions
- punishmentPenalty for an offense
- manslaughterUnlawful killing without forethought
negligence · bloodshed · self-reproach · wrongdoing · accountability · shame · confession · contrition · conscience · guilt complex · guilty conscience · blame · enabler · moral culpability · atrocity · retribution · responsibility · repentance