Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

stiletto

/stɪˈlɛtoʊ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.73 in modern English

Syllables: stilet-to
IPA: /stɪˈlɛtoʊ/

8

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A small, slender knife or dagger-like weapon intended for stabbing.

noun

noun

An awl.

noun

A woman's shoe with a tall, slender heel (called a stiletto heel).

noun

A beard trimmed into a pointed form.

Obsolete

verb

To attack or kill with a stiletto (dagger).

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"There the cause of death was soon ascertained; the victim of this daring outrage had been stabbed to death from ear to ear with a long, sharp instrument, in shape like an antique stiletto, which, I may tell you, was subsequently found under the cushions of the hansom."
"The very quaik of faſhions, the very hee that / VVeares a Steletto on his chinne."
"The recollection of former atrocities by the populace in plundering the city and stilettoing the inhabitants, is sufficiently fresh in the remembrance of the government to serve as an additional stimulus to prevent similar disorders."

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian stiletto. By surface analysis, Latin stilus + Italian -etto. Doublet of stylet.

Origin

Source language: Italian

Word Breakdown

Root: stiletto

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /stɪˈlɛtoʊ/
British English: /stɪˈlɛtəʊ/

Usage

Inflected Forms

stilettos (plural) stilettoes (plural) stiletti (plural) stilettos (present, singular) stilettoing (participle, present) stilettoed (participle, past) stilettoed (past)

Derived Forms

stilettolike

Phrases

stiletto fly stiletto heel stiletto snake

Synonyms

bodkin beard pique-devant

Rhymes With

ghetto palmetto libretto pareto loreto cueto seto barreto amaretto loretto barretto dibenedetto

Questions

How do you pronounce stiletto?: The recorded pronunciation is /stɪˈlɛtoʊ/.
What does stiletto mean?: A small, slender knife or dagger-like weapon intended for stabbing.
Where does stiletto come from?: It is traced to Italian.

How to pronounce stiletto

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