Definition of 'plight'
Word forms: plural plights
countable noun [usually singular]
If you refer to someone's plight, you mean that they are in a difficult or distressing situation that is full of problems.
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
plight in British English 2
verb (transitive)
3. See plight one's troth
noun
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
plighter (ˈplighter) noun
Word origin
Old English pliht peril; related to Old High German, German Pflicht duty
Word Frequency
plight in American English 1
SIMILAR WORDS: preˈdicament
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word Frequency
plight in American English 2
verb transitive
1.
to pledge or promise, or bind by a pledge
noun
2. Archaic
a pledge
Idioms:
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME plihten < OE plihtan, to pledge, expose to danger < pliht, a pledge, danger, akin to pleon, to risk, Ger pflicht, duty
Word Frequency
plight in American English 1
(plait)
noun
SYNONYMS case. See predicament.a condition, state, or situation, esp. an unfavorable or unfortunate one
to find oneself in a sorry plight
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[1350–1400; ME plit fold, condition, bad condition ‹ AF (c. MF pleit plait) fold, manner of folding, condition; sp. appar. influenced by plight2 in obs. sense “danger”]Word Frequency
plight in American English 2
(plait)
transitive verb
2.
to bind (someone) by a pledge, esp. of marriage
3.
to give in pledge, as one's word, or to pledge, as one's honor
noun
4. archaic
pledge
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
plighter noun
Word origin
[bef. 1000; (n.) ME; OE pliht danger, risk; c. D plicht, G Pflicht duty, obligation; (v.) ME plighten, OE plihtan (deriv. of the n.) to endanger, risk, pledge; c. OHG phlichten to engage oneself, MD plihten to guarantee]Examples of 'plight' in a sentence
plight
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In other languages
plight
British English: plight
NOUN /plaɪt/
If you refer to someone's plight, you mean that they are in a difficult or distressing situation that is full of problems.
The nation saw the plight of the farmers, whose crops had died.
- American English: plight /ˈplaɪt/
- Brazilian Portuguese: situação difícil
- Chinese: 困境
- European Spanish: situación difícil
- French: situation critique
- German: Not
- Italian: situazione critica
- Japanese: 苦境
- Korean: 곤경
- European Portuguese: situação difícil
- Latin American Spanish: dificultades
- Thai: สภาพเลวร้าย, สถานการณ์ที่ยากลำบาก
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