alight

/əˈlaɪt/verb

alight is spelled A-L-I-G-H-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,918th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, alight means “Often followed by from or off: to get off an animal which one has been riding; to dismount; to descend or exit from a vehicle; hence, to complete…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in alight?

Letters	6: A-L-I-G-H-T
Syllables	2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing	1.0 times per million words; the 28,918th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search
Rhymes with	night quite flight bright more

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is alight?

Alight appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,918th most frequent word form in the list.

alight0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce alight?

US /əˈlaɪt/

Alight has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-alight.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with alight?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as alight from its last stressed vowel (/aɪt/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of alight

alights present, singular, he/she/it
alighting participle, present
alighted participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
alit participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does alight mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

1
obsoleteTo make less heavy; to lighten; to alleviate, to relieve.
2
Often followed by from or off: to get off an animal which one has been riding; to dismount; to descend or exit from a vehicle; hence, to complete one's journey; to stop.
He alighted from his horse.
3
Often followed by at, on, or upon: of something aloft: to descend and settle; to land, to lodge, to rest.
A flying bird alights upon a tree.
4
archaicTo come down or go down; to descend.
5
archaicOften followed by on or upon: of a blow, something thrown, etc.: to land heavily.
6
Often followed by on or upon: to find by accident; to chance upon, to come upon.
7
obsoleteTo arrive.
8
archaicTo cast light on (something); to illuminate, to light up.
9
archaicTo set light to (something); to set (something) on fire; to ignite, to light.

adjective

1
archaicBurning, lit, on fire.
The burning embers and the dry wind quickly set the whole neighbourhood alight.
2
archaicOften followed by with: shining with light; luminous, radiant; also, brightly coloured; vivid.
3
archaicOf an electrical light source: switched on and emitting light.
4
archaicAglow with activity or emotion.
Her face was alight with happiness.

adverb

1
archaicChiefly in set alight: in flames, on fire; aflame.