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Showing results for stiletto. Search instead for stilettoed.
Synonyms

stiletto

American  
[sti-let-oh] / stɪˈlɛt oʊ /

noun

plural

stilettos, stilettoes

  1. a short dagger with a blade that is thick in proportion to its width.

  2. a pointed instrument for making eyelet holes in needlework.

  3.  spike heel.  stiletto heel.

verb (used with object)

stilettoed, stilettoing

  1. to stab or kill with a stiletto.

stiletto British  
/ stɪˈlɛtəʊ /

noun

  1. a small dagger with a slender tapered blade

  2. a sharply pointed tool used to make holes in leather, cloth, etc

  3. Also called: spike heel.   stiletto heel.  a very high heel on a woman's shoe, tapering to a very narrow tip

"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

verb

  1. (tr) to stab with a stiletto

"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

Other Word Forms

  • stilettolike adjective

Etymology

Origin of stiletto

First recorded in 1605–15; from Italian, equivalent to stil(o) “dagger” (from Latin stilus stylus ) + -etto -ette

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.

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

“Silence,” an installation by French Algerian artist Zoulikha Bouabdellah that displays 30 pairs of stiletto heels on the same number of Islamic prayer rugs, dominates the center of a room.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 17, 2023

The lizard looked back and a moist stiletto tongue darted in and out.

From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.