plight
Use Plight in a sentence
noun
a condition, state, or situation, especially an unfavorable or unfortunate one: to find oneself in a sorry plight.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Origin:
before 1000; (noun) Middle English; Old English pliht danger, risk; cognate with Dutch plicht, German Pflicht duty, obligation; (v.) Middle English plighten, Old English plihtan (derivative of the noun) to endanger, risk, pledge; cognate with Old High German phlichten to engage oneself, Middle Dutch plihten to guarantee
before 1000; (noun) Middle English; Old English pliht danger, risk; cognate with Dutch plicht, German Pflicht duty, obligation; (v.) Middle English plighten, Old English plihtan (derivative of the noun) to endanger, risk, pledge; cognate with Old High German phlichten to engage oneself, Middle Dutch plihten to guarantee
Related forms
plight·er, noun
un·plight·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To plight
00:10
Plight
is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
plight1 (plaɪt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| a condition of extreme hardship, danger, etc | |
| [C14 plit, from Old French pleit fold, | |
| plight2 (plaɪt) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to give or pledge (one's word): he plighted his word to attempt it |
| 2. | to promise formally or pledge (allegiance, support, etc): to plight aid |
| 3. | plight one's troth |
| a. to make a promise of marriage | |
| b. to give one's solemn promise | |
| —n | |
| 4. | archaic, dialect or a solemn promise, esp of engagement; pledge |
| [Old English pliht peril; related to Old High German, German Pflicht duty] | |
| 'plighter2 | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
plight
"pledge," obsolete except in archaic plight one's troth, from O.E. pligtan "endanger," verb form of pliht "danger, risk," from P.Gmc. *pleg- (cf. O.E. pleon "to risk the loss of, expose to danger," O.Fris., M.Du. plicht "care, carefulness," O.H.G. pfliht, Ger. pflicht "obligation, duty," M.Du. plien
"to answer for, guarantee").
plight
"condition or state (usually bad)," c.1175, from Anglo-Fr. plit, O.Fr. pleit "condition" (13c.), originally "way of folding," from V.L. *plictum, from L. plicitum, neut. pp. of L. plicare "to fold, lay" (see ply (v.)). Originally in neutral sense (as in modern Fr. en bon plit
"in good condition"), sense of "harmful state" is probably from convergence with plight (v.) via notion of "entangling risk, pledge or promise with great risk to the pledger."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Cloistered in the luxury of Versailles, the royal couple was oblivious to their subjects' plight.
She testified about her plight at a legislative hearing.
If that were to occur, these same people would recognize their plight and perhaps rebel.
Many hands have been wrung about the plight of overextended kids.
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