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straight

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

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Letters

8 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "straight", 8-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "straight" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "straight" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

straight is anEnglishadj. It means: Not crooked, curly, or bent; having a constant direction throughout its length. Pronounced /stɹeɪt/. It ranks #979 in English word frequency. Often confused with strait and straighten.

Key facts for straight
PropertyValue
Headwordstraight
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdj
IPA/stɹeɪt/
Letters8
Frequency rank#979
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of straight in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for straight is 8 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /stɹeɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #979 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 27 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 13 documented wrong-spelling variants for straight, with forms such as "srtaight", "sstraight", and "staright". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "strait", "straighten", "straighter", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English streight, streght, streiȝt, the past participle of strecchen (“to stretch”), from Old English streċċan (past participle ġestreaht, ġestreht), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (“to stretch”). Cognate with Scots straicht (“straight”), D… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is straight, spelled S-T-R-A-I-G-H-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Not crooked, curly, or bent; having a constant direction throughout its length.
  2. 2
    Direct, undeviating.
  3. 3
    Perfectly horizontal or vertical; not diagonal or oblique.
  4. 4
    Describing the bat as held so as not to incline to either side; on, or near a line running between the two wickets.
  5. 5
    Having all cylinders in a single straight line; in-line.
  6. 6
    Direct in communication; unevasive, straightforward.
  7. 7
    Free from dishonesty; honest, law-abiding.
  8. 8
    Serious rather than comedic.
  9. 9
    In proper order; as it should be.
  10. 10
    In a row, in unbroken sequence; consecutive.
  11. 11
    Describing the sets in a match of which the winner did not lose a single set.
  12. 12
    Making no exceptions or deviations in one's support of the organization and candidates of a political party.
  13. 13
    Containing the names of all the regularly nominated candidates of a single party and no others.
  14. 14
    Conventional; mainstream; socially acceptable.
  15. 15
    Heterosexual.
  16. 16
    Occurring between people of opposite sex (sometimes, but not always, specifically between heterosexual people).
  17. 17
    Related to conventional sexual intercourse.
  18. 18
    Not using alcohol, drugs, etc.
  19. 19
    Not plus size; thin.
  20. 20
    Strait; narrow.
  21. 21
    Stretched out; fully extended.
  22. 22
    Thorough; utter; unqualified.
  23. 23
    Of spirits: undiluted, unmixed; neat.
  24. 24
    Sent at a full rate for immediate delivery; being a fast telegram.
  25. 25
    Concerning the property allowing the parallel transport of vectors along a course that keeps tangent vectors remain as such throughout that course (a course which is straight, a straight curve, is a geodesic).
  26. 26
    OK, all right, fine; in a good state or situation.
  27. 27
    On good terms.

Etymology

From Middle English streight, streght, streiȝt, the past participle of strecchen (“to stretch”), from Old English streċċan (past participle ġestreaht, ġestreht), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (“to stretch”). Cognate with Scots straicht (“straight”), Dutch gestrekt (“stretched”), German gestreckt (“stretched”), Danish strakt (“stretched”), Faroese and Norn strekti (“stretched”), Icelandic strekkti (“stretched”), Norwegian strekte (“stretched”), Swedish sträckte (“stretched”). Doublet of straught. Equivalent to stretch + -ed. In some senses, conflated with strait (“narrow, constricted”), which is from Latin strictus via Old French estreit.

Antonyms

bentcrookedcurved

This word in other languages

Spanish(Español)Portuguese(Português)French(Français)German(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: srtaight,sstraight,staright,stragiht,straigght,straighht,straightt,straigth,straihgt,striaght,strraight,sttraight,tsraight

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for straight

Misspelling Variants of "straight"

srtaight8sstraight9staright8stragiht8straigght9straighht9straightt9straigth8
Misspelling Variants of "straight"

Frequency rank: #979 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "straight"?
"straight" is spelled S-T-R-A-I-G-H-T. The IPA pronunciation is /stɹeɪt/.
What does "straight" mean?
As an adj, "straight" means: Not crooked, curly, or bent; having a constant direction throughout its length.
What words are commonly confused with "straight"?
"straight" is commonly confused with "strait", "straighten", "straighter". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "straight"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "straight" is /stɹeɪt/. 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 "straight"?
From Middle English streight, streght, streiȝt, the past participle of strecchen (“to stretch”), from Old English streċċan (past participle ġestreaht, ġestreht), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (“to stretch”). Cognate with Scots straicht (“str... 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter S in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.