sleight

noun

ˈslīt 

1

: deceitful craftiness

also : stratagem

2

: dexterity, skill

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

• artifice
• device
• dodge
• fetch
• flimflam
• gambit
• gimmick
• jig
• juggle
• knack
• play
• ploy
• ruse
• scheme
• shenanigan
• stratagem
• trick
• wile

Examples of sleight in a Sentence

must have employed some sophisticated sleight to con that wary couple out of their money

a brilliant new theory that pays tribute to his remarkable sleight of mind

Recent Examples on the Web

Heading into a 12-game sleight tonight, with the two current favorites hitting the ice, here is where the odds for the award currently stand. —Tyler Small, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2024

What then is too much, when a sleight of the rational names plenty as recursion in thickets, absent blaring data and the insects vanish. —Alice Gribbin, The New York Review of Books, 2 Nov. 2023

But her sleight of foot no doubt made for a livelier flight back to San Diego. —Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Aug. 2023

Spending more time with these two main characters as people and not pieces in a shifting sleight-of-hand exercise might give the strong performances a chance to assert themselves more. —Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Apr. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old Norse slœgth, from slœgr sly — more at sly

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing sleight

• sleight of hand

Kids Definition

sleight

noun

ˈslīt 

1

a

: sly trickery

b

: trick entry 1 sense 1d, stratagem

2

: dexterity, skill