alight
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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alights,
present (3rd person singular)
-
alighted,
past participle, past
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alit,
past participle, past
-
alighting
present participle
-
to dismount from a horse, descend from a vehicle, etc.
-
to settle or stay after descending.
The bird alighted on the tree.
-
to encounter or notice something accidentally.
adverb
-
provided with light; lighted up.
-
on fire; burning.
verb
-
(usually foll by from) to step out (of) or get down (from)
to alight from a taxi
-
to come to rest; settle; land
a thrush alighted on the wall
adjective
-
burning; on fire
-
illuminated; lit up
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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alightsimple
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alightssimple
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have alightedperfect
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have alitperfect
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has alightedperfect
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has alitperfect
-
am alightingprogressive
-
are alightingprogressive
-
is alightingprogressive
-
have been alightingperfect progressive
-
has been alightingperfect progressive
Past
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alightedsimple
-
alitsimple
-
had alightedperfect
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had alitperfect
-
was alightingprogressive
-
were alightingprogressive
-
had been alightingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of alight1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English alighten, Old English ālīhtan; equivalent to a- 3 + light 3 )
Origin of alight2
First recorded before 1000; originally past participle of alight “to light up,” Middle English alihten, Old English onlīhtan, equivalent to a- 1 + light 1 )
Explanation
The word alight has two distinct meanings: it can mean coming down or settling in a delicate manner, such as a bird perching, or it can be a rather poetic way to describe something that’s on fire (or “afire”). Just as the word alight has two distinct grammatical forms and meanings, it has two distinct beginnings in the Old English. That period’s word ālīhtan had an original meaning of dismounting, or lightening the load on the horse, and so is the ancestor of the verb we use today that means "to settle or perch." Meanwhile, the word onlīhtan (see the different spelling?) of that same time meant to be on fire, which became our adjectival use of the word.
Vocabulary lists containing alight
Fahrenheit 451
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Lord of the Flies
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Mythology
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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:
On a summer night alongside the Colorado River, a line of telegraph poles is set alight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
After a couple of red carpet run-ins where there seemed to be palpable chemistry, actor Andrew Garfield's appearance on Dimoldenberg's show set the internet alight with speculation of genuine romance.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
Once a recipe is chosen, clientele relax; zoning out in nearby chairs as glass tubes alight and the machine purrs from within.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
The blonde executive assistant to the president was then mentioned by a Democratic senate hopeful, in comments that set the internet alight -- and incensed the White House.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
“One day I will take photographs also,” she says, her dark eyes alight with the shine of her dream.
From "Beast Rider" by Tony Johnston & María Elena Fontanot de Rhoads
Lindsay Hale’s husband, Kai, has been dead for only 12 weeks when she alights in a cold winter landscape that she no longer recognizes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
McCartney’s musical time machine eventually alights on “Salesman Saint,” a reference to his father, Jim Mac, who died in 1976.
From Salon ● May 12, 2026
When a butterfly briefly alights on a flower, fast action is essential.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
He never alights on an answer, but the search has prompted some of his best music to date.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2023
The female alights on the top of a dead tree, panting from fatigue and fear.
From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
While I was visiting Cindy a few days later, a young cardinal alighted at the feeder and met our gaze.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Rangers' search for a replacement quickly alighted upon Gerrard, who was of interest to club's American owners in the summer, before a number of issues resulted in him withdrawing from the running.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2025
Not surprisingly, by the time that the couple alighted at the Astrodome in 1974, they were headed for divorce proceedings.
From Salon ● Nov. 23, 2024
A poor fisherman in a Turkish village was retrieving his net from a lake when he found that a white stork had alighted on his boat.
From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2024
Books bombarded his shoulders, his arms, his upturned face A book alighted, almost obediently, like a white pigeon, in his hands, wings fluttering.
From "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury
Earlier this year, China’s social media was alit with videos of jobless university graduates visiting temples to seek the blessings of the gods.
From Reuters ● Sep. 30, 2023
Just as the animal was nearly out of sight, it flew back upriver, alit on the water, and floated back down—over and over again.
From Science Magazine ● Aug. 15, 2023
More than 75,000 spectators attended the Matildas’ quarterfinal victory and the Sydney Opera House was alit in the yellow and green team colors.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 8, 2023
But of all the miracle works performed by the McDonald Corporation, you have alit upon two of the finest.
From Fox News ● Sep. 3, 2020
Late at night when we walked home from the laundry, they should have been sleeping behind locked doors, not overflowing into the streets in front of the benevolent associations, all alit.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
A premise that had sounded a bit ridiculous—a trout mistaking my cast for an alighting insect—had been proven real.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
Transport officials urged fans to travel by tram to St Peter's Square and Victoria but to avoid alighting at Deansgate.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2023
Neither are his players, some of whom began their careers at higher-profile destinations before alighting to Pitt in search of opportunity.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 17, 2023
Leonardo’s mind, obsessed with the engineering of flying, was always in flight, alighting on higher and higher branches of knowledge and forever challenging the limits of how far he could soar.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2023
The gull kept flying backward and forward along the direct line to the bank, only alighting now and then to guide Bigwig toward some straggling doe whom he had spotted going the wrong way.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
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.
