alight

/əˈlaɪt/

//əˈlaɪt// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"alight" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“alight” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #28,812. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#28,812
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To make less heavy; to lighten; to alleviate, to relieve.

Corpus desk

Index EN-alight · alight · English

alight · rank #28,812 · 9 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #28,812
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH alienating

Nearest frequency peer: alienating (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “alight”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “alight” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

alight vs align
67% similar
alight vs Alisha
50% similar
alight vs alright
86% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for alight
PropertyValue
Headwordalight
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/əˈlaɪt/
Letters6
Frequency rank#28,812
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “alight”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).alightlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “alienating” (#28,811), “amazement” (#28,813), “Aldridge” (#28,810). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “alight” is #28,812. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around alight (IPA /əˈlaɪt/), averb. Corpus frequency is #28,812 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for alight, with forms such as "ailght", "algiht", and "aligght". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "align", "Alisha", "alright", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English alighten (“to descend from a place: to dismount, get off; to descend to a place: to arrive or stop (at a place); to land; to drop; to attack; of lightning: to strike; to leap on to, mount; to descend in rank; to cause (someone) to lose r… The correct English form is alight, spelled A-L-I-G-H-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    To make less heavy; to lighten; to alleviate, to relieve.
  2. 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.
  3. 3
    Often followed by at, on, or upon: of something aloft: to descend and settle; to land, to lodge, to rest.
  4. 4
    To come down or go down; to descend.
  5. 5
    Often followed by on or upon: of a blow, something thrown, etc.: to land heavily.
  6. 6
    Often followed by on or upon: to find by accident; to chance upon, to come upon.
  7. 7
    To arrive.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how alight appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. He alighted from his horse.
  2. Passengers are alighting from the carriage.

Etymology

From Middle English alighten (“to descend from a place: to dismount, get off; to descend to a place: to arrive or stop (at a place); to land; to drop; to attack; of lightning: to strike; to leap on to, mount; to descend in rank; to cause (someone) to lose rank; to come forth, spring from; to alleviate, relieve; (Christianity) of Jesus: to come down to earth from heaven, become incarnate; to descend (to hell); of the Holy Spirit, angels, miracles, etc.: to descend (from heaven); to descend (upon someone); to appear in a place”) [and other forms], from a merger of: * Old English ālīhtan (“to alight, dismount”), from ā- (prefix meaning ‘away, from, off, out’) + līhtan, līehtan (“to descend, alight, light; to make easy or light, alleviate, lighten, relieve”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“not heavy, light”); and * Old English ġelīhtan (“to descend; to come down, dismount; to make easy or light, alleviate, lighten, relieve”), from ġe- (intensifying prefix, attached to verbs to indicate completeness or perfection) + līhtan, līehtan (see above). The English word is analyzable as a- (prefix meaning ‘away, from, off, out’) + light (“to ease, lighten; to take off; to unload; to dismount; (archaic) to come down, land; to dismount”). Cognates * Middle Low German erlichten (“to lighten”) * Old High German gilīhten (“to make less heavy, lighten”) (Middle High German gelīhten); Old High German irlīhten (“to alleviate”) (Middle High German erlīhten, modern German erleichten)

This word in other languages

apearse(Español)aussteigen(Deutsch)descer(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ailght
  • algiht
  • aligght
  • alighht
  • alightt
  • aligth
  • alihgt
  • allight
  • laight

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of alight - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ailght2algiht2aligght1alighht1alightt1aligth2alihgt2allight1
Edit distance from "alight"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "alight"?
"alight" is spelled A-L-I-G-H-T. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈlaɪt/.
What does "alight" mean?
As a verb, "alight" means: To make less heavy; to lighten; to alleviate, to relieve.
What words are commonly confused with "alight"?
"alight" is commonly confused with "align", "Alisha", "alright". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "alight"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "alight" is /əˈlaɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "alight"?
From Middle English alighten (“to descend from a place: to dismount, get off; to descend to a place: to arrive or stop (at a place); to land; to drop; to attack; of lightning: to strike; to leap on to, mount; to descend in rank; to cause (someone)... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "alight", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

afield#28,808armpit#28,819abject#28,803backer#28,826

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

austere9 variantsbagging9 variantsXander9 variantsbanked9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list