blight

/blaɪt/

//blaɪt// noun

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

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

The verdict

“blight” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #21,145. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#21,145
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A diseased condition suffered by a plant; specifically, a complete and rapid chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as floral organs, leaves, branches, or twigs, especially one cause...

Corpus desk

Index EN-blight · blight · English

blight · rank #21,145 · 10 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #21,145
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bittersweet

Nearest frequency peer: bittersweet (-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 “blight”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “blight” 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).

blight vs bought
67% similar
blight vs bright
83% similar
blight vs blighted
75% similar

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

Key facts for blight
PropertyValue
Headwordblight
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/blaɪt/
Letters6
Frequency rank#21,145
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “blight”

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).blightlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “bittersweet” (#21,144), “Botswana” (#21,146), “braid” (#21,147). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “blight” is #21,145. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around blight (IPA /blaɪt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #21,145 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for blight, with forms such as "bblight", "bilght", and "blgiht". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "bought", "bright", "blighted", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: The etymology of the noun is uncertain; suggested derivations include the following: * possibly related to Middle English blichening (“mildew or rust on grain, blight”), possibly related to Middle English bliken (“to gleam, shine; to turn pale”), from Old E… The correct English form is blight, spelled B-L-I-G-H-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A diseased condition suffered by a plant; specifically, a complete and rapid chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as floral organs, leaves, branches, or twigs, especially one caused by a fungus; a mildew, a rust, a smut.
  2. 2
    The cause of such a condition, often unseen but believed to be airborne; specifically, a bacterium, a virus, or (especially) a fungus; also, an aphid which attacks fruit trees.
  3. 3
    A state of cloudy, humid weather.
  4. 4
    A diseased condition of the face or skin; specifically, bleeding under the conjunctiva of the eye, a form of skin rash, or a palsy of the face due to cold.
  5. 5
    Something that impedes development or growth, or spoils any other aspect of life.
  6. 6
    A rundown and unsightly condition of an urban area; also, such an area.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Proceed, inhuman Parent in thy Scorn; / Root up my Trees, vvith Blites deſtroy my Corn; / My Vineyards Ruin, and my Sheepfolds burn.
  2. As ſudden blights corrupt the ripen'd grain, / And of its verdure ſpoil the mournful plain; / So hapleſs love on blooming features preys, / So hapleſs love deſtroys our peaceful days.

Etymology

The etymology of the noun is uncertain; suggested derivations include the following: * possibly related to Middle English blichening (“mildew or rust on grain, blight”), possibly related to Middle English bliken (“to gleam, shine; to turn pale”), from Old English blīcan (“to shine, sparkle”) (whence modern English blike (“(obsolete) to gleam, shine”); also compare Old Norse blikna (“to grow pallid”)), from Proto-West Germanic *blīkan (“to shine”), from Proto-Germanic *blīkaną (“to gleam, shine”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”); or * since noun sense 2.2 is a diseased condition of the skin, possibly from Middle English *bleighte, *bleȝte, from Old English blǣcþa (“leprosy”) (related to blǣċe (“an itching skin-disease”) and blǣċo (“leprosy; paleness”)), from Proto-West Germanic *blaik, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *blaikaz (“pale; white”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”). If so, the word is a doublet of bleak. The verb is derived from the noun.

This word in other languages

tizón(Español)cloque(Français)Geißel(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bblight
  • bilght
  • blgiht
  • bligght
  • blighht
  • blightt
  • bligth
  • blihgt
  • bllight
  • lbight

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of blight - 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.

bblight1bilght2blgiht2bligght1blighht1blightt1bligth2blihgt2
Edit distance from "blight"

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 "blight"?
"blight" is spelled B-L-I-G-H-T. The IPA pronunciation is /blaɪt/.
What does "blight" mean?
As a noun, "blight" means: A diseased condition suffered by a plant; specifically, a complete and rapid chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as floral organs, leaves, branches, or twigs, especially one cause...
What words are commonly confused with "blight"?
"blight" is commonly confused with "bought", "bright", "blighted". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "blight"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "blight" is /blaɪt/. 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 "blight"?
The etymology of the noun is uncertain; suggested derivations include the following: * possibly related to Middle English blichening (“mildew or rust on grain, blight”), possibly related to Middle English bliken (“to gleam, shine; to turn pale”), ... 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 "blight", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Belize#21,142ascend#21,139arched#21,137apiece#21,134

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

bandage10 variantscabaret10 variantscyanide10 variantswebinar10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list