England Under-21 international winger Kightly struck in each half to earn leaders Wolves their fourth successive win and sentence Burnley to just their second defeat in 16 games.
The win ended a painful week on a high for Wolves manager Mick McCarthy, who watched the game from the dug-out on crutches following ankle surgery.
Burnley only came to life in the second half but they lacked any kind of cutting edge - summed up by the fact that Chris Eagles' 48th minute shot was their only one on target.
To add to their misery, they had to play the final 11 minutes with ten men after Clarke Carlisle was dismissed for collecting a second yellow card.
The Turf Moor outfit also had another five players cautioned on a dismal day for them at Molineux.
Wolves were dominant in terms of possession in a one-sided first half, but for all their pressure all they had to show for their efforts was Kightly's solitary strike.
Burnley central defenders Carlisle and Steven Caldwell proved to be a stubborn barrier and Wolves needed a slice of luck to finally end their resistance.
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake collected a ball from Kightly and surged towards goal only to see his shot from 20 yards blocked.
But the loose ball fell invitingly for Kightly, who had continued his run into the area.
Kightly's first shot beat Brian Jensen only to hit the post, but fortunately for Kightly the rebound flew straight to him and he had the simple task of stabbing the ball into an empty net with Jensen wrong-footed.
Jensen then denied Wolves a second goal on the hour with a stunning save from Richard Stearman's close-range header.
But the giant Dane was powerless to prevent Kightly grabbing his seventh goal of the season in the 76th minute.
Once again he owed his goal to the hard working Ebanks-Blake. He surged clear down the right wing before crossing for Kightly, who deftly turned the ball home at Jensen's near post.