Aqueous solutions of three alkali metal fluorides-NaF, KF, and CsF-have been studied by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS) over the frequency range 0.2 less than or similar to nu/GHz <= 89 at 25 degrees C and at concentrations 0.05 less than or similar to c/mol L-1 less than or similar to 1. The combination of these measurements with analogous literature data for RbF(aq) and M'Cl(aq) (M' = Li, Na, K, and Cs) made possible a systematic analysis of the hydration of F- and the alkali metal cations. Unlike the other halide ions, F- was found to have a well-defined hydration shell which contains similar to 7 water molecules, consistent with the appearance of a "slow"-water mode at similar to 10 GHz in the spectra. Limiting total effective hydration numbers (Z(t)(0)) for M'F(aq), obtained from the solvent-related modes, did not follow a simple sequence, varying in the order CsF < NaF < RbF < KF. However, it is shown that this anomalous sequence results from subtle variations in the strength of the M'(+)-OH2 bonding. Thus, it was established that Z(ib)(0)(M'(+)) values, corresponding to the numbers of strongly ("irrotationally") bound (ib) water molecules around the cations, do vary with charge density in the order Li+ >> Na+ > K+ > Rb+ > Cs+. It was also found that Z(s)(0)(M'(+)), the number of moderately bound ("slow") water molecules, varied in the same order: K+ > Rb+ > Cs+. However, the presence of ib water molecules in the hydration shells of Li+ and Na+ attenuates their further interaction with surrounding water molecules such that Z(s)(0)(M'(+)) approximate to 0 for both ions.