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sleight

/slaɪt/
/sleɪt/
IPA guide

Other forms: sleights

The noun sleight refers to being able to use your hands with ease, especially when doing a trick. Sleight is often used in the phrase "sleight of hand." If you are a good magician, you can make a coin disappear with sleight of hand.

The noun sleight refers to cunning or cleverness, especially when used to trick or deceive. You can use a sleight of mind to trick yourself into believing that if you eat a box of cookies at dinnertime, it counts as dinner. The word sleight has a long history and comes from the Middle English word sleghth, which also meant "cunning." Back then, people would have pronounced the "gh" — even though today we don't.

Definitions of sleight
  1. noun
    adroitness in using the hands
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    type of:
    adeptness, adroitness, deftness, facility, quickness
    skillful performance or ability without difficulty
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘sleight'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
Commonly confused words

slight / sleight

Slight and sleight sound the same, but things that are slight are little and light, and sleight means slyness or sneakiness.

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