気きがとがめる

expression, ichidan verb

feel guilty; have a guilty conscience

Describes a nagging sense of guilt or unease about one's own actions, often for something relatively minor. The subject is typically the person who feels guilty, and the expression is used in the form 気がとがめる.

• 嘘うそをついた後あと、気きがとがめて眠ねむれなかった。

  After telling a lie, I felt so guilty I couldn't sleep.

• 彼かれは何なにも悪わるいことをしていないのに、なぜか気きがとがめた。

  Even though he hadn't done anything wrong, he somehow felt guilty.