Meanings
nounsleet (countable and uncountable, plural sleets)
plural sleets
- UScountableuncountablePellets of ice made of mostly-frozen raindrops or refrozen melted snowflakes.
Synonyms: ice pellets
- IrelandNortheasternUKUScountableuncountablePrecipitation in the form of a mixture of rain and snow.
Though it never really snows it’s more like horizontal sleet
2007, “Is This Christmas?”, performed by The Wombats
verbsleet (third-person singular simple present sleets, present participle sleeting, simple past and past participle sleeted)
present singular third person sleets · participle present sleeting · participle past sleeted · past sleeted
- impersonalTo be in a state in which sleet is falling.
I won't bother going out until it's stopped sleeting.
1 more example
It was dark, it was cold, it was sleeting - dreadful conditions for driving... perfect conditions for an accident.
2021 February 24, Greg Morse, “Great Heck: a tragic chain of events”, in RAIL, number 925, page 38
Synonyms & antonyms
nounPellets of ice made of mostly-frozen raindrops or refrozen melted snowflakes.
Similar
Origin
- Old Norseslydda
- Proto-Germanic*slautijǭ“sleet”
- Proto-West Germanic*slautijā
- Old English*slēte
- Middle Englishslete
- Englishsleet
From Middle English slete, probably from Old English *slēte, *slȳte, *slīete, from Proto-West Germanic *slautijā, from Proto-Germanic *slautijǭ (“sleet”). Walter W. Skeat, the author of Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, suggests Old Norse slydda (whence Danish slud (“mixture of rain and snow”)). The word appears to be akin to Low German Sloot (“hail”), dialectal German Schloße (“large hailstone”), Old Gutnish sloyta (“slush, sleet”). Doublet of slut.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian сугра́шица, лапавица
- сугра́шица (sugrášica)ice pellets
- лапавица (lapavica)precipitation of rain–snow mixture
- поледица (poledica)glaze ice formed by freezing rain
Catalan aiguaneu
- aiguaneuprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
Chinese Mandarin 霰, 雨夾雪 /雨夹雪
- 霰 (xiàn)ice pellets
- 雨夾雪 /雨夹雪 (yǔjiāxuě)precipitation of rain–snow mixture
- 雨雪 (yǔxuě)precipitation of rain–snow mixture
- 凍雨 /冻雨 (dòngyǔ)glaze ice formed by freezing rain
Czech plískanice
- plískaniceprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
Danish slud
- sludprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
Dutch ijsregen, sneeuwregen
- ijsregenice pellets
- sneeuwregenprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- natte sneeuwprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- ijzelglaze ice formed by freezing rain
- gijzelento be in a state in which sleet is falling
Esperanto grajlo
- grajloice pellets
Finnish jäärae (pellet of ice), räntä
- jäärae (pellet of ice)ice pellets
- räntäprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- räntäsadeprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- jäätävä sadeglaze ice formed by freezing rain
- jäätävä tihkuglaze ice formed by freezing rain
- sataa räntääto be in a state in which sleet is falling
French grésil, verglas
- grésilice pellets
- verglasglaze ice formed by freezing rain
- grésillerto be in a state in which sleet is falling
German Graupel, gefrierende Nässe
- Graupelice pellets
- gefrierende Nässeice pellets
- Schneeregenprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- Glatteisglaze ice formed by freezing rain
Greek χιονόνερο, παγετός
- χιονόνερο (chionónero)precipitation of rain–snow mixture
- παγετός (pagetós)glaze ice formed by freezing rain
Hungarian jégdara, fagyott eső
- jégdaraice pellets
- fagyott esőice pellets
- havas esőprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- ónos esőglaze ice formed by freezing rain
Icelandic slydda, kraparigning
- slyddaprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- kraparigningprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- bleytukafaldprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- ískornglaze ice formed by freezing rain
- ísingglaze ice formed by freezing rain
- setja niður slydduto be in a state in which sleet is falling
- vera slyddato be in a state in which sleet is falling
Irish flichshneachta
- flichshneachtaprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
Italian gragnola, pioggia mista a neve
- gragnolaice pellets
- pioggia mista a neveprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- acquaneveprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- vetroneglaze ice formed by freezing rain
Japanese 霙, 氷雨
- 霙 (mizore)precipitation of rain–snow mixture
- 氷雨 (hisame)precipitation of rain–snow mixture
Korean 진눈깨비, 진눈깨비
- 진눈깨비 (jinnunkkaebi)precipitation of rain–snow mixture
- 진눈깨비 (jinnunkkaebi)glaze ice formed by freezing rain
Latvian krusa
- krusaglaze ice formed by freezing rain
Māori waiwaha, tarahī huka
- waiwahaprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- tarahī hukaprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- waiwahaglaze ice formed by freezing rain
Norwegian sludde
- sluddeto be in a state in which sleet is falling
Norwegian Bokmål sludd
- sluddprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
Persian برفباران
- برفبارانglaze ice formed by freezing rain
Polish deszcz ze śniegiem, marznący deszcz
- deszcz ze śniegiemprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- marznący deszczglaze ice formed by freezing rain
- gołoledźglaze ice formed by freezing rain
Portuguese grão de gelo, água-neve
- grão de geloice pellets
- água-neveprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- gelo negroglaze ice formed by freezing rain
- granizarto be in a state in which sleet is falling
Romanian lapoviță, lapoviță
- lapovițăice pellets
- lapovițăprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- lapovițăglaze ice formed by freezing rain
- fleșcăialăglaze ice formed by freezing rain
- lapovițato be in a state in which sleet is falling
Russian мо́крый снег, дождь со сне́гом
- мо́крый снег (mókryj sneg)precipitation of rain–snow mixture
- дождь со сне́гом (doždʹ so snégom)precipitation of rain–snow mixture
- ледяно́й дождь (ledjanój doždʹ)precipitation of rain–snow mixture
- мо́крый снег (mókryj sneg)glaze ice formed by freezing rain
- дождь со сне́гом (doždʹ so snégom)glaze ice formed by freezing rain
- ледяно́й дождь (ledjanój doždʹ)glaze ice formed by freezing rain
- крупа́ (krupá)glaze ice formed by freezing rain
Scottish Gaelic flin, flinne
- flinprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- flinneprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- fliugprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- glìbprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- flichneadhprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- flichneachdprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- clàmhainnprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- flinglaze ice formed by freezing rain
Spanish perdigón de hielo, aguanieve
- perdigón de hieloice pellets
- aguanieveprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- celliscaprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- cellisquearto be in a state in which sleet is falling
Swedish slask, snöblandat regn
- slaskprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- snöblandat regnprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- snögloppprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
Turkish sulu sepken, kargın
- sulu sepkenprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- kargınprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
Welsh eirlaw, eirlaw
- eirlawprecipitation of rain–snow mixture
- eirlawglaze ice formed by freezing rain
- bwrw eirlawto be in a state in which sleet is falling
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with sleet
completestreetmeetfeetsuitesheetheatdeletesweeteatseattreatconcretereceiptrepeatelitefleetcheatpetecompetewheatincompletedefeatretreat
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
sleet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sleet
MLA
“sleet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sleet. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sleet,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sleet.
Source: sleet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.