Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

blighty

[blahy-tee]
See more synonyms for blighty on Thesaurus.com
noun, plural blight·ies. British Slang.
  1. (often initial capital letter) England as one's native land; England as home: We're sailing for old Blighty tomorrow.
  2. a wound or furlough permitting a soldier to be sent back to England from the front.
  3. military leave.
Show More

Origin of blighty

1885–90; < Hindi bilāyatī the country (i.e., Great Britain), variant of wilāyatī vilayet
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for blighty

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Blighty was a very desirable country, but in it you were compelled to think.

    The Rough Road

    William John Locke

  • He takes no risks who has secured the coveted pass to Blighty.

    A Padre in France

    George A. Birmingham

  • I got six months in Blighty, and haven't had the same luck since.

    A Lively Bit of the Front

    Percy F. Westerman

  • He got a packet in the knapper this morning, and he's already on his way to Blighty.

  • I can hardly realise that the time has come for me to go back to Blighty.

    Sixty Squadron R.A.F.

    Group-Captain A. J. L. Scott

British Dictionary definitions for blighty

blighty

blighty bird

noun
  1. NZ another name for white-eye
Show More

Blighty

noun (sometimes not capital) British slang (used esp by troops serving abroad)
  1. England; home
  2. (esp in World War I)
    1. Also called: a blighty onea slight wound that causes the recipient to be sent home to England
    2. leave in England
Show More

Word Origin

C20: from Hindi bilāyatī foreign land, England, from Arabic wilāyat country, from waliya he rules
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012