slight

verb

slighted; slighting; slights

transitive verb

1

: to treat as slight or unimportant : make light of

2

: to treat with disdain or indifference

slight a guest

3

: to perform or attend to carelessly and inadequately

don't slight your work

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it slight or sleight of hand?

Slight is a homophone of sleight, and feels like it makes sense in this idiom, but sleight of hand is the correct form when referring to a cleverly executed trick. Sleight means "deceitful craftiness" or "stratagem," and slight means "having a slim or delicate build"; a slim person is sometimes described as being "slight of build."

What is the difference between sleight and slight?

Slight is the far more common word. In modern use it can be a verb meaning "to offend or insult someone" (as in "slighted by a rude colleague"), or a noun closely related to that verb ("the colleague's remark could only be seen as a slight"), or it can be an adjective describing people and things that are slim, frail, small, or trivial ("a slight figure," "a slight chance," "a slight movie"). Sleight is a noun that can refer either to a deceitful kind of craftiness, or to skill and dexterity. It is typically found in the phrase "sleight of hand," or variations on that phrase (as in "sleight of pen").

Is the correct phrase sleight chance or slight chance?

Slight chance: slight in this case means "small." If rain is possible but not very likely on a given day, there's a slight chance of rain. If you buy only one of 500 raffle tickets sold, you have a slight chance of winning.

Synonyms of slight

• insult
• offend
• outrage

Choose the Right Synonym for slight

neglect, disregard, ignore, overlook, slight, forget mean to pass over without giving due attention.

neglect implies giving insufficient attention to something that merits one's attention.

habitually neglected his studies

disregard suggests voluntary inattention.

disregarded the wishes of his family

ignore implies a failure to regard something obvious.

ignored the snide remark

overlook suggests disregarding or ignoring through haste or lack of care.

in my rush I overlooked a key example

slight implies contemptuous or disdainful disregarding or omitting.

slighted several major authors in her survey

forget may suggest either a willful ignoring or a failure to impress something on one's mind.

forget what others say

Examples of slight in a Sentence

I'm sure he didn't mean to slight you.

He was slighted by his colleagues.

Recent Examples on the Web

Romano’s sturdy book may not stint on examples of Mary’s bad behavior—including a ferociously jealous verbal assault, near the end of the war, on the wife of a prominent Union general—but the biographer keeps tilting against those who slighted Mary in even the most superficial ways. —Thomas Mallon, New Yorker, 18 May 2026

He’s further slighted after the Emperor commissions him to remake one of his old operas so audiences might remember the country’s past successes. —Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 8 May 2026

Deborah also slighted Kelly’s talk show. —Erin Jensen, USA Today, 8 May 2026

As Cretton and Guest looked on and occasionally interjected, Abdul-Mateen described a tough first Zoom meeting that left him feeling slighted. —Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 30 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1586, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for slight

• bight
• bite
• blight
• byte
• cite
• dight
• fight
• fite
• flight
• fright
• height
• hight

Kids Definition

slight

1 of 3 adjective

ˈslīt 

1

a

: having a slim or delicate build : not stout

b

: lacking in strength or substance : flimsy, frail

c

: lacking weight, solidity, or importance : trivial

2

: small of its kind or in amount

slightly adverb

slightness noun

slight

2 of 3 verb

1

: to treat with disrespect

2

: to perform or attend to carelessly and without proper attention to detail

slight

3 of 3 noun

1

: an act or an instance of slighting

2

: a humiliating discourtesy