Sight — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

noun verb adjective /ˈsīt/

Meaning & Definition of Sight

Sight (noun)

  1. something that is seen, spectacle
  2. a thing regarded as worth seeing —usually used in plural
  3. something ludicrous or disorderly in appearance

Sight (verb)

  1. to get or catch sight of
  2. to look at through or as if through a sight; especially, to test for straightness
  3. to aim by means of sights

Sight (adjective)

  1. based on recognition or comprehension without previous study
  2. payable on presentation

Sight (noun) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. a position within view

    "get out of my sight!"

    similar: company, presence
    related: closeness, contiguity, immediacy, nearness, proximity

  2. an instance of looking especially briefly

    "he always fainted at the merest sight of blood"

    similar: cast, eye, gander, glance, glimpse, look, peek, peep, regard, view
    related: gape, gaze, glare, leer, ogle, stare, side-glance, squinny, squint, coup d'oeil

  3. something unpleasant to look at

    "the frat house was a sight the morning after the party"

    similar: eyesore, fright, hideosity, horror, mess, monstrosity
    related: eye-catcher, blot, smear, smudge, spot, stain
    near: vision

  4. the ability to see

    "lost his sight in an accident when he was young"

    similar: eye, eyesight, vision
    related: myopia, nearsightedness, farsightedness, hypermetropia, hyperopia, presbyopia, aniseikonia, astigmatism, diplopia, squint, strabismus, double vision

  5. a considerable amount

    "this place sure is a good sight better than that last motel"

    similar: abundance, barrel, basketful, boatload, bucket, bunch, bundle, bushel, carload, chunk, deal, dozen, fistful, gobs, good deal, heap, hundred, lashings (chiefly British), loads, lot, mass, mess, mountain, much, multiplicity, myriad, oodles, pack, passel, peck, pile, plateful, plenitude, plentitude, plenty, pot, potful, profusion, quantity, raft, reams, scads, sheaf, shipload, slew, spate, stack, store, ton, truckload, volume, wad, wealth, yard, all kinds (of), quite a bit
    related: epidemic, plague, rash, bonanza, embarrassment, excess, overabundance, overage, overkill, overmuch, oversupply, plethora, redundancy, superabundance, superfluity, surfeit, surplus, deluge, flood, overflow, army, bevy, cram, crowd, crush, drove, flock, herd, horde, host, legion, mob, multitude, press, score, sea, swarm, throng, gazillion, jillion, kazillion, million, thousands, trillion, zillion
    opposite: ace, bit, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, handful, hint, lick, little, mite, mouthful, nip, ounce, peanuts, pinch, pittance, scruple, shade, shadow, smidgen, speck, spot, sprinkle, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, taste, touch, trace
    near: atom, crumb, dot, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, grain, granule, iota, jot, modicum, molecule, mote, nubbin, particle, ray, scintilla, scrap, shred, tittle, whit, smatter, smattering, dash, drop, morsel, shot, piece, portion, section, absence, dearth, famine, lack, paucity, poverty, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, want, deficiency, deficit, inadequacy, insufficiency, meagerness, scantiness, scantness, skimpiness

Sight (verb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. to make note of (something) through the use of one's eyes

    "the crew felt a rush of excitement upon hearing that the lookout had sighted land"

    similar: behold, catch, descry, discern, distinguish, espy, eye, look (at), note, notice, observe, perceive, regard, remark, see, spot, spy, view, witness, get a load of (slang), lay eyes on, set eyes on
    related: identify, make out, pick out, pick up, attend (to), consider, heed, mark, mind, study, watch, examine, inspect, scan, scrutinize, survey, glance (at), glimpse, peer (at)
    near: disregard, ignore, neglect, overpass, pass over, miss, overlook

Related Entry: Out-of-sight (adjective)

Out-of-sight is a different word from Sight. The synonyms below are for out-of-sight, not for sight.

  1. of the very best kind

    "the food at that restaurant is out-of-sight—but then so are the prices"

    similar: A-OK, A1, awesome, bang-up, banner, beautiful, blue-chip, blue-ribbon, boffo, bonny (chiefly British), boss (slang), brag, brave, bully, bumper, capital, choice, classic, cool (slang), corking, crackerjack, cracking, dandy, divine, dope (slang), down (slang), dynamite, excellent, fab, fabulous, famous, fantabulous (slang), fantastic, fine, first-class, first-rate, first-string, five-star, four-star, frontline, gangbusters, gilt-edged, gone (slang), grand, great, groovy, heavenly, high-class, hot, hype (slang), immense, jim-dandy, keen, lovely, marvelous, mean, neat, nifty, noble, number one, numero uno, par excellence, peachy, peachy keen, phat (slang), prime, primo (slang), prize, prizewinning, quality, radical (slang), righteous (slang), sensational, slick, splendid, stellar, sterling, superb, superior, superlative, supernal, swell, terrific, tip-top, top, top-notch, top-of-the-line, top-shelf, topflight, topping (chiefly British), unsurpassed, wizard (chiefly British), wonderful, out of this world, too much
    related: acceptable, adequate, all right, decent, good, OK, passable, satisfactory, tolerable, better, exceptional, fancy, high-grade, high-test, premium, select, special, superfine, classical, standard, traditional
    opposite: atrocious, awful, execrable, lousy, pathetic, poor, rotten, terrible, vile, wretched
    near: bad, inferior, low-grade, substandard, unsatisfactory, mediocre, middling, second-class, second-rate

Related Entry: Second sight (noun)

Second sight is a different word from Sight. The synonyms below are for second sight, not for sight.

  1. the power of seeing or knowing about things that are not present to the senses

    "the fairy world was believed to be visible to people blessed with second sight"

    similar: clairvoyance, extrasensory perception, sixth sense
    related: foreknowledge, foresight, prescience, precognition, telepathy, parapsychology

Related Entry: Drop out of sight (phrase)

Drop out of sight is a different word from Sight. The synonyms below are for drop out of sight, not for sight.

  1. to cease to be visible

    "The city dropped out of sight as we rounded the highway."

    similar: dematerialize, disappear, dissolve, evanesce, evaporate, fade, flee, fly, melt, sink, vanish
    related: blank (out), clear, die (away or down or out), disperse, dissipate, dissolve, dry up, blur, dim
    opposite: appear, materialize
    near: arrive, break out, come out, emerge, issue, loom, show up

Related Entry: Out of sight (phrase)

Out of sight is a different word from Sight. The synonyms below are for out of sight, not for sight.

  1. having no equal or rival for excellence or desirability

    "The drummer for that band is out of sight."

    similar: incomparable, inimitable, matchless, nonpareil, only, peerless, unequaled, unexampled, unmatched, unparalleled, unrivaled, unsurpassable, unsurpassed
    related: alone, singular, unique, exceptional, extraordinary, rare, uncommon, unusual, A-OK, A1, awesome, bang-up, banner, beautiful, blue-chip, boffo, bonny (chiefly British), boss (slang), brag, brave, bully, bumper, capital, choice, classic, cool (slang), corking, crackerjack, cracking, dandy, divine, dope (slang), down (slang), dynamite, excellent, fab, fabulous, famous, fantabulous (slang), fantastic, fine, first-class, first-rate, first-string, five-star, frontline, gangbusters, gone (slang), grand, great, groovy, heavenly, high-class, hot, hype (slang), immense, jim-dandy, keen, lovely, marvelous, mean, neat, nifty, noble, number one, numero uno, out-of-sight (slang), par excellence, peachy, peachy keen, phat (slang), prime, primo (slang), prize, prizewinning, quality, radical (slang), righteous (slang), sensational, splendid, stellar, sterling, superb, superior, superlative, supernal, swell, terrific, tip-top, top, top-notch, wizard (chiefly British), wonderful, better, preferred, fancy, high-grade, special
    near: common, commonplace, everyday, familiar, frequent, garden, household, normal, ordinary, routine, ubiquitous, usual, inferior, lesser, worse, worst, bad, bastard, bush, bush-league, deficient, depressed, dissatisfactory, ill, lame, lousy, low, lower, off, paltry, poor, punk, substandard, unacceptable, unsatisfactory, wanting, low-grade, mediocre, second-class, second-rate, atrocious, awful, execrable, pathetic, rotten, terrible, vile, wretched

Related Entry: Dropped out of sight (phrase)

Dropped out of sight is a different word from Sight. The synonyms below are for dropped out of sight, not for sight.

  1. to cease to be visible

    "The city dropped out of sight as we rounded the highway."

    similar: dematerialized, disappeared, dissolved, evanesced, evaporated, faded, fled, flew, melted, sank, vanished
    related: blanked (out), cleared, died (away or down or out), dispersed, dissipated, dissolved, dried up, blurred, dimmed
    opposite: appeared, materialized
    near: arrived, broke out, came out, emerged, issued, loomed, showed up

Related Entry: Drops out of sight (phrase)

Drops out of sight is a different word from Sight. The synonyms below are for drops out of sight, not for sight.

  1. to cease to be visible

    "The city dropped out of sight as we rounded the highway."

    similar: dematerializes, disappears, dissolves, evanesces, evaporates, fades, flees, flies, melts, sinks, vanishes
    related: blanks (out), clears, dies (away or down or out), disperses, dissipates, dissolves, dries up, blurs, dims
    opposite: appears, materializes
    near: arrives, breaks out, comes out, emerges, issues, looms, shows up

Related Entry: Dropping out of sight (phrase)

Dropping out of sight is a different word from Sight. The synonyms below are for dropping out of sight, not for sight.

  1. to cease to be visible

    "The city dropped out of sight as we rounded the highway."

    similar: dematerializing, disappearing, dissolving, evanescing, evaporating, fading, fleeing, flying, melting, sinking, vanishing
    related: blanking (out), clearing, dispersing, dissipating, dissolving, drying up, dying (away or down or out), blurring, dimming
    opposite: appearing, materializing
    near: arriving, breaking out, coming out, emerging, issuing, looming, showing up

Synonyms, Thesaurus & Another Word for Sight

The most common words with a similar meaning to Sight:

Chiefly British: lashings
Slang: get a load of
company, presence, cast, eye, gander, glance, glimpse, look, peek, peep, regard, view, eyesore, fright, hideosity, horror, mess, monstrosity, eyesight, vision, abundance, barrel, basketful, boatload, bucket, bunch, bundle, bushel, carload, chunk, deal, dozen, fistful, gobs, good deal, heap, hundred, loads, lot, mass

Antonyms & Opposite Words for Sight

Words with the opposite meaning of Sight:

ace, bit, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, handful, hint, lick, little, mite, mouthful, nip, ounce, peanuts, pinch, pittance, scruple, shade, shadow, smidgen, speck, spot, sprinkle, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, taste

Related Words for Sight

closeness, contiguity, immediacy, nearness, proximity, gape, gaze, glare, leer, ogle, stare, side-glance, squinny, squint, coup d'oeil, eye-catcher, blot, smear, smudge, stain, myopia, nearsightedness, farsightedness, hypermetropia, hyperopia, presbyopia, aniseikonia, astigmatism, diplopia, strabismus

Near Antonyms of Sight

vision, atom, crumb, dot, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, grain, granule, iota, jot, modicum, molecule, mote, nubbin, particle, ray, scintilla, scrap, shred, tittle, whit, smatter, smattering, dash, drop, morsel, shot, piece, portion

Word Forms of Sight

Inflections: sighted, sighting, sights

Origin & Etymology of Sight

Middle English, from Old English gesiht faculty or act of sight, thing seen; akin to Old High German gisiht sight, Old English sēon to see

First known use: before 12th century

Vocabulary Lists & Topics for Sight

Words & Phrases Containing Sight

sight for sore eyes, sight gag, sight hound, sight line, sight-read, sight rhyme, sight unseen

Frequently Asked Questions about Sight

What does "Sight" mean?

"Sight" means something that is seen, spectacle. As an a noun, a verb and an adjective, it is defined as: something that is seen, spectacle. It has 6 distinct senses.

What is another word for "Sight"?

Other words for "Sight" include company, presence, cast, eye, gander, glance, glimpse and look. The best synonym depends on which meaning of "Sight" you intend.

What are different ways to say "Sight"?

There are 188 words and phrases with a similar meaning to "Sight". Common alternatives include company, presence, cast, eye, gander, glance, glimpse, look, peek and peep.

What is the opposite of "Sight"?

Antonyms of "Sight" include ace, bit, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, handful and hint. Near antonyms include vision, atom, crumb and dot.

How do you use "Sight" in a sentence?

Examples of "Sight" in a sentence: "get out of my sight!"; "he always fainted at the merest sight of blood"; "the frat house was a sight the morning after the party".

Is "Sight" a noun, verb, or adjective?

"Sight" can be used as a noun, a verb and an adjective, depending on the context.

Is "Sight" useful for IELTS, TOEFL, and other English exams?

As a B1-level word, "Sight" is typical of Cambridge B1 Preliminary (PET), IELTS band 4.0–5.0, TOEFL iBT 42–71, PTE Academic 43–58, TOEIC Listening & Reading 550+.

How do you pronounce "Sight"?

"Sight" is pronounced /ˈsīt/.