plight
/plaɪt/noun, verb
plight is spelled P-L-I-G-H-T: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, plight means “A dire or unfortunate situation” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of plight is plights.
How many letters and syllables are in plight?
| Letters | 6: P-L-I-G-H-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.9 times per million words; the 15,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is plight?
Plight appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce plight?
- /plaɪt/
Plight has one syllable (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-plight.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of plight
- plights plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- plighting participle, present
- plighted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does plight mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A dire or unfortunate situation.
- 2
archaicA (neutral) condition or state.
- 3
obsoleteGood health.
- 4
Responsibility for ensuing consequences; risk; danger; peril.
- 5
An instance of danger or peril; a dangerous moment or situation.
- 6
Blame; culpability; fault; wrong-doing; sin; crime.
- 7
One's office; duty; charge.
- 8
archaicThat which is exposed to risk; that which is plighted or pledged; security; a gage; a pledge.
- 9
obsoleteA network; a plait; a fold; rarely a garment.
verb
- 1
archaicTo nominate an object of value as a security against a promise; to pledge something, as one's faith, trust, allegiance, or something symbolic of this.
- 2
Specifically, to pledge (one's troth etc.) as part of a marriage ceremony.
- 3
To promise (oneself) to someone, or to do something.
- 4
obsoleteTo weave; to braid; to fold; to plait.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Plight in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | situation désespérée |
| German | Misere, Notlage, Bedrängnis , Zustand |
| Portuguese | dificuldade, apuro |
| Spanish | aprieto, tribulación, crisis, viacrucis, calvario, atrenzo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does plight come from?
From Middle English plit (“fold, wrinkle, bad situation”), conflation of Middle English pliht, plight (“risky promise, peril”) (from Old English pliht "danger, risk"; see Etymology 2) and Anglo-Norman plit, plyte (“fold, condition”), from Old French pleit (“condition, manner of folding”) (from Vulgar Latin *plictum, from Latin plicitum (“fold”)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).