lithe

[ lahyth ]

/ laɪð /

adjective, lith·er, lith·est.

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

Nearby words

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for lithely

Laura, arms folded, rose and lithely crossed the room several times, knitting her brow.
The Eddy|Clarence L. Cullen
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
“All right; never mind,” he said, dismissing Aristocrates, who receded as lithely as though leading a cake-walk.
The Moonlit Way|Robert W. Chambers
Its rich brown fur and orange throat make it one of the most lithely beautiful of British animals.
Poachers and Poaching|John Watson

She slipped from his grasp as lithely as the serpentine pearls had run through his fingers.
Mountain Blood|Joseph Hergesheimer

British Dictionary definitions for lithely

lithe

/ (laɪð) /

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.