plight Hear it!

plight¹ Definition

plight (plīt)

noun

a condition or state of affairs; esp., now, an awkward, sad, or dangerous situation

Etymology: ME plit, state, condition < Anglo-Fr for OFr pleit, a fold, way of folding, condition (see plait): sense infl. by ME plight < OE pliht: see plight

plight² Definition

plight (plīt)

transitive verb

to pledge or promise, or bind by a pledge

Etymology: ME plihten < OE plihtan, to pledge, expose to danger < pliht, a pledge, danger, akin to pleon, to risk, Ger pflicht, duty

noun

Archaic a pledge

plight² Idioms

plight one's troth

  1. Obsolete to pledge one's truth, or one's word
  2. to make a promise of marriage

plight Synonyms

plight

n.

impasse, dilemma, situation, tight situation; see difficulty 1, predicament. See syn. study at predicament.

plight Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • refugee: The plight of the refugees in Lebanon is well known.
  • homeless: The plight of the homeless prompted him to open the Cardinal Hume Center for young people at risk.
  • pensioner: It suggests nothing that will help the plight of pensioners.
  • orphan: It is a school based charity set up in response to the plight of orphans in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya.
  • seeker: A moving, personal story of the plight of asylum seekers, surprisingly.
  • turtle: The plight of sea turtles is well known and all seven species are thought to be endangered.

Converse of subject

  • move: Mark was deeply moved by the plight of the community.
  • touch: He was evidently touched by the plight of poor visitors.

Converse of object

  • worsen: Now He is forced to behold her steadily worsening plight.
  • highlight: She has written to us to highlight the plight of domesticated Pet Rats in South Africa... .
  • alleviate: However, we are not convinced of the adequacy of his efforts to alleviate the plight.
  • publicize: Original here A few weeks ago, Oxfam launched a campaign to publicize the plight of coffee farmers in poor countries.
  • ignore: For too long the world ignored the plight of the Iraqi people.
  • ease: Outside the United Nations, pressure to do something to ease the plight of the Iraqi people was mounting.

Adjective modifier

  • desperate: Dear Friends, Is your heart broken by the desperate plight of millions of children around the world?
  • dreadful: The rescue of these two in their dreadful plight now needed the very acme of mountaineering skill.
  • terrible: The subject of their heated exchanges is Job's terrible plight.
  • sad: Justin didn't realize that his new menacing appearance was the cause of his sad plight.
  • humanitarian: But we do care about the humanitarian plight of people in Afghanistan.
  • sorry: They would otherwise have been in a sorry plight.