might
/maɪt/UK[maɪt]
might noun: power, strength, force, or influence held by a person or group. Also the simple past of may.
Noun
might (countable and uncountable, plural mights)
- Power, strength, force, or influence held by a person or group.
- […]ſtrengthed with all myght, thꝛough his gloꝛious power, unto all pacience and long ſufferyng with ioifulneſſe[…]1549 March 7, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilers, “The Introites, Collectes, Epiſtles and Goſpelles, to be uſed at the celebꝛacion of the loꝛdes Supper, & holy Communion, thꝛough the yere, with...
- This is the richest, the most powerful country which ever occupied this globe. The might of past empires is little compared to ours. But I do not want to be the president who built empires or sought grandeur or extended dominion. I want to be the president who educated young children to the wonders...1965 March 15, Lyndon B. Johnson, 43:30 from the start, in Special Message to the Congress: The American Promise [on the Voting Rights Act], 3/15/65. MP506., Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
- Physical strength or force.
- He pushed with all his might, but still it would not move.
- The ability to do something.
Adjective
Verb
might (third-person singular simple present might, no present participle, simple past might, no past participle)
- Used to indicate a desired past action that was not done.
- You might have warned me about the thunderstorm.
- Used to indicate conditional or possible actions; would perhaps/maybe.
- Well, I might go to a party, but I haven't decided yet.
- The characterism of an honest man: He looks not to what he might do, but what he should.1608, Joseph Hall, Characters of Virtues and Vices
- Synonyms:
- may
- Used concessively to admit something before making a more accurate or important statement; although
- I might be in a wheelchair, but I still want to be treated as a lady.
- I might play football, but I do know how to read.2016, Candy Sloan, Wrong Bed Reunion
- Synonyms:
- may
- Used in polite requests for permission.
- "Might I take the last biscuit? I wonder if I might have a little more coffee too." "Yes you may, help yourself.".
- Used to express certainty.
- Yeah, I think we might need something a bit sturdier.
Also used as
might is also the simple past of may.
might meaning in Arabic and Vietnamese
might in Arabic
- personal power
- قُوَّة quwwa
might in Vietnamese
- indicator of conditional or possible actions
- có lẽ
Examples of might in a sentence
- The might of past empires is little compared to ours.1965 March 15, Lyndon B. Johnson, 43:30 from the start, in Special Message to the Congress: The American Promise [on the Voting Rights...
- Since every nation considers itself right, peace lies in balancing the military mights of the possible rivals.1969, [unattributed], Journal of the United Service Institution of India, volume 99, page 115:
Synonyms of might
Forms of might
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | mights |
| alternative pronunciation-spelling (informal) | mite |
| alternative form (obsolete, dialectal) | mought |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | mighter |
| superlative | mightest |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | might |
| past | might |
| alternative form | mout |
| alternative form (dialectal) | med |
Origin of might
From Middle English maught, might, miȝt, myght, from Old English maht, meaht, meht, mieht, miht, mæht (“ability, power; strength; virtue”), from Proto-West Germanic *mahti, from Proto-Germanic *mahtiz (“ability, power; force, strength”), from Proto-Indo-European *(me)mógʰe (“to be able to, to have power”), from *megʰ- (“to be able”), corresponding to Germanic *maganą (“to be able, may”) + *-þiz. Equivalent to may + -th. Cognates Cognate with Scots micht (“might”), Yola mought (“might”), Dutch macht (“might, power”), German Macht (“might, power”), Luxembourgish Muecht (“authority, might, power”), Yiddish מאַכט (makht, “might, power”), Faroese and Icelandic máttur (“might, strength”), Danish magt (“power; force”), Norwegian Bokmål makt (“power”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish makt (“power; force”), mått (“might, power”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 (mahts, “ability, might, power”), and further to Irish smacht (“ordinance, regulation, rule; dominion, sway; control, discipline, restraint; fine, penalty”), Greek μάγος (mágos, “magician; sorcerer, wizard”), Lithuanian mėgti (“to like”), Belarusian моц (moc, “might, power”), Bulgarian мощ (mošt, “might, power”), Czech and Polish moc (“might, power”)...
From Old English meahte and mihte, inflections of magan, whence English may.
Words formed from might
- almighty
- might and main
- mighteous
- mightful
- mightiness
- might is right
- mightless
- mightly
- might makes right
- mightsome
- mighty
- unmight
- with all one's might
- if I might be so bold
- might as well
- might-be
- might can
- might could
- might-have-been
- might should
- monkeys might fly out of my butt
- pigs might fly
- so crazy it just might work
- so crazy it might just work
- try as one might
Phrases with might
Words that rhyme with might
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- knight
- slight
- Dwight
- height
- sight
- night
- sprite
- fight
- parasite
- site
- alight
- smite
- all right
- blight
- mite
- skite
- cite
- indite
- lite
- outright
- plight
- bight
- excite
- ignite
- invite
- overnight
- uptight
- wight
- accite
- alright
- benight
- bewrite
- blite
- copyright
- despite
- dight
- disunite
- finite
- flite
- hight
- incite
- recite
- relight
- rewrite
- sleight
- spite
- spright
- wite
Questions about might
- What does might mean?
- Might means power, strength, force, or influence held by a person or group.
- What is might in Arabic?
- Might in Arabic is قُوَّة (quwwa). See Might meaning in Arabic.
- How do you use might in a sentence?
- The might of past empires is little compared to ours.
- What part of speech is might?
- Might can be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce might?
- Might is pronounced /maɪt/.
- What is the plural of might?
- The plural of might is mights.
Words near might in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: might (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-might.ogg.
Cite this entry: “might.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/might. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.