lite

[ lahyt ]

/ laɪt /

Informal.

adjective

noting a commercial product that is low in calories or low in any substance considered undesirable, as compared with a product of the same type: used especially in labeling or advertising commercial products: lite beer.

noting a version that is comparatively less extreme, profound, advanced, etc., than the typical version (often used postpositively): The film glossed over the dangers of the experiment with a science-lite explanation. The lite version of the app is available for mobile download.

noun

light²(def 36).

Content related to lite

A Look Into The Girl Scout Cookie Jar The Girl Scouts have been selling cookies for more than 100 years, and America can't get enough of them. Here at Dictionary.com, we can't get enough of the names behind them.

English Affixes From A To Z: A One-Stop List Of Suffixes, Prefixes, and Combining Forms In English, we love to make new words by adding all sorts of bits to the front and back of existing terms. These are called affixes, and they are added to the base or stem of a word. When attached to the end of word, the affix is called a suffix. And to the beginning? A prefix.

Words nearby lite

lit.d., litany, litas, litchi, litchi nut, lite, liter, literacy, literacy hour, literacy test, literae humaniores

Origin of lite

First recorded in 1965–70; an informal, simplified spelling of light²

OTHER WORDS FROM lite

lite·ness, noun

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH lite

lite light

Definition for lite (2 of 2)

-lite

a combining form used in the names of minerals or fossils: aerolite; chrysolite.

Also -lyte².

Compare -lith.

Origin of -lite

< French, simplified form of -lithe < Greek líthos stone; similarly German -lit, earlier -lith

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lite

Ngai associates it with other "lite" aesthetic categories promulgated by postwar consumer culture: quaint, wacky, quirky, cool.
Zany, Cute, Interesting: What the Words We Use Say About Us|Benjamin Lytal|October 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Even The Wall Street Journal weighed in, describing LeMieux as nothing more than “Charlie Crist lite.”
Another GOP Star Stumbles|Jim DeFede|September 4, 2009|DAILY BEAST
He couldn't be seen in the darkness, but "Lite" could smell him and kept at his flank.
Cattle-Ranch to College|Russell Doubleday
"Lite" received the caressing pat on his nose and the words of praise his master gave him with commendable modesty.
Cattle-Ranch to College|Russell Doubleday

Frank thought that these men were also invited, and hoped to become acquainted with the lite of Salingen.
The Catholic World, Vol. X, October 1869|Various
Here we have the lite of Shakespeare's creations in a throng about his cradle.
George Cruikshank|W. H. Chesson
They passed comfortable homes surrounded by large yards where the lite of Wellington lived.
Molly Brown's College Friends|Nell Speed

British Dictionary definitions for lite (1 of 2)

lite

/ (laɪt) /

adjective

(of food and drink) containing few calories or little alcohol or fat

denoting a more restrained or less extreme version of a person or thingreggae lite

Word Origin for lite

C20: variant spelling of light ²

British Dictionary definitions for lite (2 of 2)

-lite

n combining form

(in names of minerals) stonechrysolite Compare -lith

Word Origin for -lite

from French -lite or -lithe, from Greek lithos stone

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012