lithe
[lahyth]
- bending readily; pliant; limber; supple; flexible: the lithe body of a ballerina.
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Also lithe·some [lahyth -suh m] /ˈlaɪð səm/.
Origin of lithe
before 900; Middle English lith(e), Old English līthe; cognate with Old Saxon līthi, German lind “mild,” Latin lentus “slow”
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
supple, agile, nimble, slim, limber, lean, lissome, loose, pliable, pliant, slight, spare, thin, lightsomeExamples from the Web for lithe
Contemporary Examples
Yet there were no pictures of Harry in his swimming trunks being kissed by lithe beauties on Ipanema Beach this week.
He wanted to be lithe and smooth and lightly airborne, working on his break dancing until he could make himself appear to flow.
Who was that lithe, bendable gymnast setting alight the Olympic flame?
The fact is that Putin has never publically acknowledged his rumored relationship with the lithe, bendable Kabaeva.
The Fishermen, like thieves, shake out their silver,/ the lithe knives wriggle on the drying sand.
Historical Examples
He got to his feet with lithe swiftness of movement, and sprang close to the desk.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
She was a lithe, strong woman, taller than he, or else she would have fallen.
Roden's CornerHenry Seton Merriman
She struck him, kicked and twisted with all her splendid, lithe strength, but it was in vain.
Louisiana LouWilliam West Winter
She was in riding costume and was bending a lithe whip in her gloved hands.
The Woman Thou Gavest MeHall Caine
There was a lithe alertness in the woman that puzzled Lenyard.
MelomaniacsJames Huneker
lithe
- flexible or supple
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Word Origin
Old English (in the sense: gentle; C15: supple); related to Old High German lindi soft, Latin lentus slow
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for lithe
adj.
Old English liðe "soft, mild, gentle, meek," from Proto-Germanic *linthja- (cf. Old Saxon lithi "soft, mild, gentle," Old High German lindi, German lind, Old Norse linr, with characteristic loss of "n" before "th" in English), from PIE root *lent- "flexible" (cf. Latin lentus "flexible, pliant, slow," Sanskrit lithi). In Middle English, used of the weather. Current sense of "easily flexible" is from c.1300. Related: Litheness.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper