sight-read

American  

[sahyt-reed] / ˈsaɪtˌrid /

verb (used with or without object)

sight-read, sight-reading

1. to read, play, or sing without previous practice, rehearsal, or study of the material to be treated.

   to sight-read music; to sight-read another language.

---

sight-read British  

/ ˈsaɪtˌriːd /

verb

1. to sing or play (music in a printed or written form) without previous preparation

---

Other Word Forms

• sight-reader noun
• sight-reading noun

Etymology

Origin of sight-read

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

“It’s not one of those parts where you can just, if you’re a good player, sight-read it.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2025

Phonics is a great way to get kids to sight-read, but whole-language learning in sentences is an important motivating factor.

From Washington Post • Mar. 15, 2023

In the last years of her life, when she had macular degeneration, it was sad because she could never sight-read in that same way that she could when I was a child.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 28, 2019

She repeatedly announced plans to study classical piano and finally learn to sight-read music at the Juilliard School, but she never enrolled.

From New York Times • Aug. 16, 2018

They could not help him sight-read a new tune from scratch.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall