Site vs Sight | Difference, Definitions & Examples
A site is a “place” (e.g., “a construction site,” “a historic site”), while a sight is “something that you can see” (e.g., “a tourist sight”).
- Site and sight are pronounced in the same way (i.e., they are homophones).
- Sight also means your “ability to see” or “what is in view.”
- The word site is part of the compound noun “website,” which is often shortened to “site.”
| Sight in a sentence | Site in a sentence |
|---|---|
| You need good sight to be a pilot. | This is the site where they’re planning to build the new stadium. |
| He followed the bird with his binoculars until it was out of sight. | We visited the site of the Gettysburg Address in 10th grade. |
| The Northern Lights are a spectacular sight. | Can you send me a link to that site? |
Site definition
A site is a place used for a particular purpose (e.g., a “picnic site”), a location where something important has happened (e.g., a “historic site”), or the land where buildings are, or will be, located (e.g., a “construction site”, a “greenfield site”).
Archeologists think they have discovered the site of an important Roman settlement close to the town.
The university is considering three sites for the construction of a new research facility.
Sight meaning
The noun sight relates to the “action of seeing” and is used in several different ways.
Your sight is your “ability to see.”
Fighter pilots have to have excellent sight.
The sight of something means the “act of looking at it” or “view.”
She smiled at the sight of the kids jumping around and laughing together.
The sights are the things that tourists like to look at or visit in a particular city or region.
A friend of mine is studying there and showed us all the sights.
If something is out of sight, you cannot see it because your view of it is blocked or it is too far away. If something comes into sight, your view of it was blocked or it was too far away to see, but you can now see it.
The clouds cleared, and the moon came into sight.
When used as a verb, sight means “to see,” especially for a short time. This verb is often used in the passive voice.
Cite meaning
The verb cite means to refer to something as an example or to support an argument, sometimes by repeating exactly what someone else has said or written. Its related noun form is citation, and it is pronounced in the same way as the nouns “site” and “sight.”
Smith cites multiple examples of such corrupt practices in her study.
Historians commonly cite high inflation as one of the principal reasons for the election result.
Cite can also mean to officially demand that someone appears before a court because they are accused of breaking the law. In this sense, it is often used in the passive voice.
This is not the first time that the company has been cited for violating water pollution laws.
Frequently asked questions about site vs sight
- Is it website or web site?
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The compound noun website is typically written as one word. You can write it as web site (two words), but this is much less common, so it is best to write it as one word in formal writing such as academic writing.
On a related note, it matters if you spell it site or sight, because these two words are homophones with different meanings.
Use QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker to help you avoid mixing up homophones such as “cite,” “site,” and “sight.”
- Is it sightseeing or siteseeing?
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The correct spelling is sightseeing. It means going to the places that tourists like to visit in a particular region or city (e.g., “I didn’t have much time for sightseeing on my business trip to New York”).
Deciding if the correct spelling is site or sight can be tricky because these two words are homophones.
Have you tried QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker? It can help you avoid making errors with homophones such as “sight,” “site,” and “cite” in your writing.
- Is it on sight or on site?
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The phrases on site and on sight have different meanings.
“On site” is an adverbial phrase meaning “at the location” (e.g., “I would like to meet you on site, so I can look at the construction work in person”) or an adjective meaning “at the location” (e.g., “We would like to carry out an on-site inspection, so we can look at the construction work”).
“On sight” is an adverbial phrase meaning “as soon as you see” something (e.g., “The soldiers were ordered to shoot anyone who entered the zone on sight”).
Knowing if you should spell it site or sight can be difficult because they are homophones.
Why not use QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker to help you avoid making errors with homophones such as “sight,” “site,” and “cite.”
- Is it gun site or sight?
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The correct spelling is gunsight (written as one word) or sight. A “gunsight” or the “sight” of a gun is a device attached to a gun that you look through to help you aim accurately.
Deciding whether to spell it site or sight is tricky because they are homophones.
Using QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker will help you avoid spelling errors with homophones such as “site,” “sight,” and “cite.”
