stiletto
/stɪˈlɛtəʊ/US/stɪˈlɛtoʊ/
stiletto noun: a small, slender knife or dagger-like weapon intended for stabbing.
Noun
stiletto (plural stilettos or stilettoes or stiletti)
- A small, slender knife or dagger-like weapon intended for stabbing.
- 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.1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tremarn Case”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC, section 1; republished as popular edition, London...
- A rapier.
- An awl.
- A woman's shoe with a tall, slender heel (called a stiletto heel).
- A beard trimmed into a pointed form.
- The very quaik of faſhions, the very hee that / VVeares a Steletto on his chinne.c. 1635–1636 (date written), Iohn Ford [i.e., John Ford], The Fancies, Chast and Noble: […], London: […] E[lizabeth] P[urslowe] for Henry Seile, […], published 1638, →OCLC, Act III, page 32
- Synonyms:
- bodkin beard, pique-devant
Verb
stiletto (third-person singular simple present stilettos, present participle stilettoing, simple past and past participle stilettoed)
- To attack or kill with a stiletto (dagger).
- 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.1834, Henry Tudor, Narrative of a Tour in North America
stiletto meaning in Bengali, Kannada and Arabic
stiletto in Bengali
- সরু ছোরা, উঁচু হিলওয়ালা জুতো
stiletto in Kannada
- ಇರಿಕತ್ತಿ
stiletto in Arabic
- stabbing weapon
- خُنَيْجِر ḵunayjir
Examples of stiletto in a sentence
- A stilettoed foot stepped out of the taxi cab.
- Stylish dark grey tailored trousers, silver thongs and shiny jet-black stilettos.
- Lexi passed Molly a pair of snakeskin, strappy sandals with five-inch stiletto heels.
Synonyms of stiletto
- bodkin beard
- pique-devant
Forms of stiletto
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | stilettos |
| plural | stilettoes |
| plural | stiletti |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | stilettos |
| present participle | stilettoing |
| past participle | stilettoed |
| past | stilettoed |
Origin of stiletto
Borrowed from Italian stiletto. By surface analysis, Latin stilus + Italian -etto. Doublet of stylet.
Words formed from stiletto
Phrases with stiletto
Words that rhyme with stiletto
Questions about stiletto
- What does stiletto mean?
- Stiletto means a small, slender knife or dagger-like weapon intended for stabbing.
- What is stiletto in Bengali?
- Stiletto in Bengali is সরু ছোরা, উঁচু হিলওয়ালা জুতো. See Stiletto meaning in Bengali.
- What part of speech is stiletto?
- Stiletto can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce stiletto?
- Stiletto is pronounced /stɪˈlɛtoʊ/ (US).
- What is the plural of stiletto?
- The plural of stiletto is stilettos.
Words near stiletto in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: stiletto (page history and authors); stiletto (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); stiletto (Kannada Wiktionary) (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-stiletto.wav.
Cite this entry: “stiletto.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/stiletto. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.