blighty

[ blahy-tee ]

/ ˈblaɪ ti /

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noun, plural blight·ies.British Slang.

(often initial capital letter) England as one's native land; England as home: We're sailing for old Blighty tomorrow.

a wound or furlough permitting a soldier to be sent back to England from the front.

military leave.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of blighty

1885–90; <Hindi bilāyatī the country (i.e., Great Britain), variant of wilāyatīvilayet

Words nearby blighty

Blida, Bligh, blight, blighted, blighter, blighty, bliksem, blimey, blimp, blimpish, blimp out

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use blighty in a sentence

We reckon Harry will allow himself a glass of something bubbly on the plane back to Blighty this evening.
Prince Harry's U.S. Tour: Rolling Updates and all the News and Pictures as It Happens|Tom Sykes|May 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Queen Beatrix may be ready to pack up and go, but here in Blighty, like it or not, our Kings and Queens have a job for life.
Queen Beatrix May Have Abdicated, But Queen Elizabeth Never Will, Insiders Say|Tom Sykes|January 29, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It more likely means you are a working class lad from Blighty.
'T-Rex' Will Never Be Extinct|Simon Doonan|August 13, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Ive got my dose, an Im bound for Blighty, he said, an gels chuckin flowers in the ambulance in Lunnon.
Grapes of wrath|Boyd Cable

Youll soon be tucked up safe in a bed now, or pushin on to the ambulance train and a straight run ome to Blighty.
Grapes of wrath|Boyd Cable
Our right section commander got a blighty two days ago and is probably now in England.
Carry On|Coningsby Dawson
Everywhere we looked there were crowds of them; we thought there were a lot in Blighty, but there seemed to be nothing else here.
Into the Jaws of Death|Jack O'Brien
Shortly after this we had several casualties in Platoon 10—two or three were killed, and several wounded and got their "Blighty."
Into the Jaws of Death|Jack O'Brien

British Dictionary definitions for blighty (1 of 2)

blighty

blighty bird

/ (ˈblaɪtɪ) /

noun

NZ another name for white-eye

British Dictionary definitions for blighty (2 of 2)

Blighty

/ (ˈblaɪtɪ) /

noun (sometimes not capital) British slang (used esp by troops serving abroad)

England; home

(esp in World War I)

Also called: a blighty one a slight wound that causes the recipient to be sent home to England
leave in England

Word Origin for Blighty

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