sleet

American  

[sleet] / slit /

noun

1. precipitation in the form of ice pellets created by the freezing of rain as it falls (distinguished from hail).

2. glaze.

3. Chiefly British. a mixture of rain and snow.

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verb (used without object)

sleets, present (3rd person singular) sleeted, past participle, past sleeting present participle

1. to send down sleet.

2. to fall as or like sleet.

sleet British  

/ sliːt /

noun

1. partly melted falling snow or hail or (esp US) partly frozen rain

2. the thin coat of ice that forms when sleet or rain freezes on cold surfaces

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verb

1. (intr) to fall as sleet

sleet Scientific  

/ slēt /

1. Precipitation that falls to earth in the form of frozen or partially frozen raindrops, often when the temperature is near the freezing point. Sleet usually leaves the cloud in the form of snow that melts as it passes through warm layers of air during its descent. The raindrops and partially melted snowflakes then freeze in the colder layers nearer the earth before striking the ground as pellets of ice, which usually bounce. By contrast, hail forms by the accumulation of layers of ice on the hailstone as it moves up and down in the cloud, and hailstones can become much larger than sleet pellets. The word sleet is also used informally to describe a mixture of snow, sleet, and rain.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• sleety
  adjective

Conjugated Forms

Present

• have sleeted
  perfect
• has sleeted
  perfect 3rd person singular
• have been sleeting
  perfect progressive
• is sleeting
  progressive 3rd person singular
• am sleeting
  progressive 1st person singular
• has been sleeting
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• are sleeting
  progressive
• sleets
  singular 3rd person
• sleeting
  participle

Past

• had sleeted
  perfect
• was sleeting
  progressive singular
• had been sleeting
  perfect progressive
• sleeted
  simple
• were sleeting
  progressive plural
• sleeted
  participle

Future

• will sleet
  simple
• will have sleeted
  perfect
• will be sleeting
  progressive
• will have been sleeting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of sleet

First recorded in 1250–1300; (for the noun) Middle English slete; akin to Low German slote, German Schlossen “hail”; (for the verb) Middle English sleten, derivative of the noun

Explanation

Frozen rain, or melty snow, is called sleet. Walking in the snow can be lovely, but walking in sleet is just cold and unpleasant. Sleet is a type of precipitation, and it's also a verb: "Is it starting to sleet out there? Let's stay in and watch TV tonight." In the U.S., sleet is the name for small ice pellets—if you've ever heard the weather person talk about a "wintry mix," it usually includes sleet along with snow and freezing rain. The word dates from the very early 14th century, from a Germanic root.

Example Sentences

The result is a mix of sunshine, rain, sleet, and snow, sometimes all in the same day.

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

In some sections, workers struggle to repair sections of netting torn by sleet and ice.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026

A massive winter storm continues to hit large parts of the country, dumping snow, sleet and freezing rain and leaving hundreds of thousands without power in the South.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 31, 2026

“In addition, widespread freezing rain and sleet are expected across the Southern Plains, the Lower Mississippi Valley, the Tennessee Valley, and the Southeast.”

From Barron's • Jan. 23, 2026

I crouch in the bedroom, in the dark, wrapped in Jon’s old sleeping bag, listening to the wheezing sound of Sarah breathing and the whisper of sleet against the window.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Related Words

• deluge
• drizzle
• flood
• hail
• mist
• monsoon
• precipitation
• rainfall
• rainstorm
• shower
• showers
• stream
• torrent