# slight

> English word · Adjective · IPA /slaɪt/ · frequency rank #4,982

## Definitions
1. Minor; small in amount
2. Minor; small in amount
3. Minor; small in amount
4. Minor; small in amount
5. Of slender build.
6. Even, smooth or level.
7. Still; with little or no movement on the surface.
8. Foolish; silly; not intellectual.
9. Bad, of poor quality.
10. Slighting; treating with disdain.

## Etymology
From Middle English slight (“bad, of poor quality, unimportant, trivial, slender, slim, smooth, level”), from Old English sliht (“smooth, level”), from Proto-Germanic *slihtaz (“slippery, flat, level, plain”), related to English slick. Cognate with Scots slicht (“bad, of poor quality”), West Frisian sljocht (“smooth, level, plain, simple”), Dutch slecht (“bad”), Low German slecht (“bad”), German schlecht (“bad”) and schlicht (“plain, artless, natural”), Danish slet (“bad, evil, poor, nasty, wrong”), Swedish slät (“smooth”), Norwegian slett (“even”), Icelandic sléttur (“even, smooth, level”).

## Easily confused with
- **slit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slight-vs-slit)
- **Sligo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slight-vs-sligo)
- **sought** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slight-vs-sought)
- **slightly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slight-vs-slightly)
- **sunlight** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slight-vs-sunlight)
- **sigh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sigh-vs-slight)
- **sight** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sight-vs-slight)
- **sighs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sighs-vs-slight)
- **sleigh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sleigh-vs-slight)
- **sleight** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sleight-vs-slight)
- **skylight** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skylight-vs-slight)

## Common misspellings (10)
`lsight`, `silght`, `slgiht`, `sligght`, `slighht`, `slightt`, `sligth`, `slihgt`, `sllight`, `sslight`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/slight