Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

skift

/skɪft/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.43 in modern English

Syllables: skift
IPA: /skɪft/

12

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Synonym of skiff (“light shower of rain or snow; light dusting of snow or ice (on ground, water, etc)”).

verb

Synonym of skiff (“fall lightly or briefly, and lightly cover the ground”).

verb

To shift; to move or remove.

Obsolete

Example Sentences

"Last night we had a little skift of snow."
"Well, there was a little skift of snow on the ground, and I follered up a ridge of the mountain […]"
"It was quite cold that morning; just a little skift of snow. We had not gone a mile from camp before we were overtaken by a score or more of boys going home to Missouri. They had been up to the Wakarusa camp — the pro-slavery troops were ..."
"A “Skift” of Snow LAST night we had a “skift” of snow, and it was interesting to notice the effect on the summer-born creatures of the farm. A plump young kitten that had not seen the pesky stuff before came to meet me from the stable ..."
"We just got out on the top and there was a little skift of snow a-fallin'."
"[...] money from the Appalachian Community Development Association and from Cincinnati's Tall Stacks Festival, so I rented a car and stayed in a motel instead of sleeping on somebody's floor. There was just a little skift of snow on the ground."

Etymology

From Scots skift (“light shower of rain or snow”), related to skiff (“light rain, snow, etc”) (which see for more) and skiffle.

Word Breakdown

Root: skift

Usage

Obsolete

Inflected Forms

skifts (plural) skifts (present, singular) skifting (participle, present) skifted (participle, past) skifted (past)

Synonyms

skiff

Rhymes With

fifth gift shift lift 5th swift drift get the drift rift thrift adrift sift

Questions

How do you pronounce skift?: The recorded pronunciation is /skɪft/.
What does skift mean?: Synonym of skiff (“light shower of rain or snow; light dusting of snow or ice (on ground, water, etc)”).
Where does skift come from?: From Scots skift (“light shower of rain or snow”), related to skiff (“light rain, snow, etc”) (which see for more) and skiffle.

How to pronounce skift

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “skift”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/skɪft/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “skift”.
Repeat and practice — Say “skift” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.