What does "plight" mean?
A dire or unfortunate situation.
Plight
/plaɪt/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A dire or unfortunate situation.
- Grammar: plight is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: predicament, troth, adverse circumstances, adversity.
- Useful contrasts: advantage, breach, break.
- Usage evidence: The documentary is meant to raise consciousness about the plight of the poor.
How to use "plight"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "plight" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "plight" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "plight" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "plight" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "plight" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "predicament" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "plight", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A dire or unfortunate situation.
"Though we say we are quite clear about it and understand when someone uses the expression, unlike that other expression, maybe we're in the same plight with regard to them both."
- 2 Responsibility for ensuing consequences; risk; danger; peril. dialectal
- 3 A network; a plait; a fold; rarely a garment. obsolete
"Many a folded plight."
- 4 a solemn pledge of fidelity wordnet
- 5 A (neutral) condition or state. archaic
"although hee live in as good plight and health as may be, yet he chafeth, he scoldeth, he brawleth, he fighteth, he sweareth, and biteth, as the most boistrous and tempestuous master of France[…]."
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 An instance of danger or peril; a dangerous moment or situation. dialectal
- 7 a situation from which extrication is difficult especially an unpleasant or trying one wordnet
- 8 Good health. obsolete
"All wayes shee sought him to restore to plight, / With herbs, with charms, with counsel, and with teares[…]."
- 9 Blame; culpability; fault; wrong-doing; sin; crime. dialectal
- 10 One's office; duty; charge. dialectal
- 11 That which is exposed to risk; that which is plighted or pledged; security; a gage; a pledge. archaic
"Haply, when I shall wed, That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry Half my love with him, half my care and duty"
Verb
- 1 To expose to risk; to pledge. archaic, transitive
- 2 To weave; to braid; to fold; to plait. obsolete
"ſhe wore a plighted Garmend of divers colours,"
- 3 promise solemnly and formally wordnet
- 4 Specifically, to pledge (one's troth etc.) as part of a marriage ceremony. transitive
- 5 give to in marriage wordnet
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To promise (oneself) to someone, or to do something. reflexive
"I ask what I have done to deserve it, one daughter hobnobbing with radicals and the other planning to plight herself to a criminal."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The documentary is meant to raise consciousness about the plight of the poor."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "plight"?
Common synonyms include: predicament, troth, adverse circumstances, adversity, affiance, affiance.
How do you use "plight" in a sentence?
The documentary is meant to raise consciousness about the plight of the poor.
How do you pronounce "plight"?
Pronounced /plaɪt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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”)).
Etymology 2
From Middle English plight (“risk, danger”), from Old English pliht (“peril, risk, danger, damage, plight”), from Proto-West Germanic *plihti (“care, responsibility, duty”). A suffixed form of the root represented by Old English pleoh (“risk, danger, hurt, peril"; also "responsibility”) and plēon (“to endanger, risk”). Akin to Old English plihtan (“to endanger, compromise”). Cognate with Scots plicht (“responsibility, plight”), Dutch plicht, Low German Plicht (“duty”), German Pflicht (“duty”), Danish pligt (“duty”), Yiddish פֿליכט (flikht). More at pledge.
Etymology 3
From Middle English plyghten, plyȝten, pleyȝten, pleiten, pliten, from the noun (see below).
Etymology 4
From Middle English pliȝt, plight, plyt, pleit, from Anglo-Norman pleit (“pleat, fold”). More at plait.