stiletto
Americannoun
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stilettos,
plural
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stilettoes
plural
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a short dagger with a blade that is thick in proportion to its width.
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a pointed instrument for making eyelet holes in needlework.
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spike heel. stiletto heel.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a small dagger with a slender tapered blade
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a sharply pointed tool used to make holes in leather, cloth, etc
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Also called: spike heel, stiletto heel. a very high heel on a woman's shoe, tapering to a very narrow tip
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of stiletto
First recorded in 1605–15; from Italian, equivalent to stil(o) “dagger” (from Latin stilus stylus ) + -etto -ette
Explanation
A killer in an old British mystery novel might carry a stiletto — a long, sharp, needle-like knife that's used for stabbing. Whether denoting a small dagger, a high heel, or sharp-pointed tool, this word from Italian always means business. It follows the rule, reliable ninety percent of the time, when doubts arise about spelling Italian imports: the double consonant follows the accented syllable. The root is the Latin word stilus, which means "pointed writing instrument."
Vocabulary lists containing stiletto
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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On Trend: Fashionable Words
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The Hate U Give
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In a bejeweled white pantsuit and towering stiletto pumps, Megyn Kelly tried to work the crowd like a rock star.
From Slate ● May 6, 2026
One studio manager recalled that her habit of striding across the studio in stiletto heels damaged the floor but no-one had the courage to tell her.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2025
It can be an actual stiletto heel or a wedge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2025
Yet unlike the doll of last year’s blockbuster movie, the next pop-culture star who’s about to re-emerge isn’t a statuesque blonde in stiletto heels.
From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 2024
On one hip he wore a stiletto, on the other a Dothraki arakh.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Instead of the stilettoes of the 1990s, most looks were paired with platform loafers.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 22, 2023
And, in this summer’s blockbuster movie, “Barbie,” Birkenstocks are the down-to-earth alternative that Barbie is forced to accept over her jeweled stilettoes.
From New York Times ● Sep. 13, 2023
Its strappy stilettoes are worn by celebrity fans including Beyoncé and the Duchess of Cambridge, and were made famous by the fictional Carrie Bradshaw character in the television series Sex and the City.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 25, 2017
Some of it smudges unlucky stilettoes, but most is dutifully tossed into rubbish bins and hauled to landfills, at a cost of over $100 per ton.
From Economist ● Aug. 20, 2015
Others bore dags, daggers, poniards, bayonets, square-bladed tucks, stilettoes, poniardoes, skeans, penknives, puncheons, bodkins, swords, rapiers, back-swords, cutlasses, scimitars, hangers, falchions, glaives, raillons, whittles, and whinyards.
From Gargantua and Pantagruel, Illustrated, Book 5 by Peter Anthony Motteux
Unlike her famous wigs, rhinestones and stilettos, it wasn’t something she could, or would, remove.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
"Watch out for the holes!" one guest warned another about the hazard for stilettos.
From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026
And since the audience, which is admitted in groups of 60 at 15-minute intervals, will largely be standing or walking on varied surfaces during the two-hour running time, stilettos are forbidden.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025
"Fifteen years ago, Towie was about breakups, glam, white stilettos, Sugar Hut," she says.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2025
On the flagstone paving beneath both lanterns there were old plantation pots in which Spanish daggers grew and extended their sharply pointed stilettos.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
It turns out Minty is interested in following in Mellon’s stilettoed footsteps — although she has slightly different aspirations from her mother.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2019
Slim, stilettoed fashionistas and comfort-clad suburbanites gathered around the lounge’s enclosed firepits.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 4, 2018
Instead of earnest eulogies or prayers for consolation, her drag sisters honored Sahara’s memory by striving to match her classically trained dance skills, cartwheel for cartwheel and kick for stilettoed high kick.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2016
Having been stilettoed by a fellow poet, Le Tissier could be forgiven for wanting Hoddle to come back as in his next life.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2014
To properly scale Machu Picchu, Simmons, who is known to always be properly stilettoed, “left fashion behind,” opting for her Adidas Stan Smith sneakers.
From New York Times ● Aug. 20, 2013
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
