plight
📖 Definitions
noun
1. An unfortunate situation.
2. A pledge.
3. A fold, wrinkle, braid, etc. Also called plait or pleat.
verb tr.
1. To become engaged to marry.
2. To promise.
3. To fold, wrinkle, braid, etc.
💬 Usage Examples
“Edvin breaks down and starts to cry; he hates the life as a tradesman that has been mapped out for him, and his parents are not sympathetic to his plight.” Hilton Als; Dream Lover; The New Yorker; Feb 15, 2021. “Puts on her silken vestments white, And tricks her hair in lovely plight.” Samuel Taylor Coleridge; Christabel; John Murray Press; 1816. “Effie supposed that once you were engaged, had agreed to be on the same team, you were no longer able to kvetch to your friends about your partner’s shortcomings -- that sort of whinging suddenly became disloyal once you’d both plighted your troth.” Harriet Walker; The Wedding Night; Random House; 2021. “House Republicans ousted Cheney from leadership ranks and, in doing so, further plighted its troth* to Trump.” Scot Lehigh; GOP Leaders Can’t Finesse the Party’s Trump Problem; The Boston Globe (Massachusetts); May 19, 2021. *troth: loyalty; word; promise; truth