lithe

[lahyth]

adjective, lith·er, lith·est.

bending readily; pliant; limber; supple; flexible: the lithe body of a ballerina.

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”

Related formslithe·ly, adverblithe·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for lithely

Historical Examples of lithely

He moved with alert assurance, lithely balanced on the balls of his feet, noiselessly.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
Lithely she got to her feet and reached a dial upon the screen.
Hunters Out of Space
Joseph Everidge Kelleam
She moved to the doctor's side, lithely and with an easy grace.
The Butterfly Kiss
Arthur Dekker Savage
They were life-sized, depicting tall, lithely powerful men, with cruel hawk-like faces.
Shadows in the Moonlight
Robert E. Howard
She tripped up the steps as lightly as a leaf blown by the wind, her trim figure swaying as lithely as a willow-shoot.
Love in a Cloud
Arlo Bates

British Dictionary definitions for lithely

lithe

adjective

flexible or supple

Derived Formslithely, adverblitheness, noun

Word Origin for lithe

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for lithely

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.