verb phrase · neutral
plead guilty
/pliːd ˈɡɪlti/PLEAD GUIL·ty
Band 4-5speakingtask2
to admit in court that you committed the crime you are accused of
Examples
“He decided to plead guilty to the lesser charge.”
“Many defendants plead guilty to avoid a long trial.”
“She pleaded guilty and received a reduced sentence.”
Band 8 sentence
“Facing overwhelming evidence, the defendant elected to plead guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence negotiated with prosecutors.”
Collocations
- plead guilty to a charge
- plead not guilty
Word family
plead verbpleaded / pled past tenseguilty adjective
Common mistakes
He plead guilty last year.→He pleaded guilty last year.
He plead guilt.→He pleaded guilty.
Say it for a higher band
5admit→6admit guilt→7+plead guilty
Synonyms
admit guilt
Easily confused
plead not guilty
“The defendant chose to plead not guilty and prepared for trial.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Crime & Law
Learn it with its set