Which to use
“sigh” is a verb and “slight” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,742
- “sigh” frequency rank
- #4,982
- “slight” frequency rank
- 12724
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sigh | slight |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To inhale a larger quantity of air than usual, and immediately expel it; to make a deep single audible respiration, especially as the result or involuntary expression of fatigue, exhaustion, grief, sorrow, frustration, or the like. | Minor; small in amount |
Where the eye mixes sigh and slight
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: sigh vs slight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sigh is /saɪ/ while slight is /slaɪt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12724, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sigh is recorded at frequency rank #7,742, classified as averb, pronounced /saɪ/. slight is at rank #4,982, tagged as anadj, pronounced /slaɪt/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 12724, this pair ranks #479,898 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sigh vs slight
Shared letters: ghis. Private to "sigh": -. Private to "slight": lt.
"sigh" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "slight" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sigh" and "slight" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "sigh" or "slight"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "sigh" and "slight" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sigh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "slight" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #479,898 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sigh" and "slight" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sif vs sigh". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #479,898 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.