lithe [lahyth] ExamplesWord Origin 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 Examples from the Web for lithely Historical Examples of lithely
He moved with alert assurance, lithely balanced on the balls of his feet, noiselessly.
Marvin Dana
Lithely she got to her feet and reached a dial upon the screen.
Joseph Everidge Kelleam
She moved to the doctor’s side, lithely and with an easy grace.
Arthur Dekker Savage
They were life-sized, depicting tall, lithely powerful men, with cruel hawk-like faces.
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.
Arlo Bates
British Dictionary definitions for lithely lithe adjective
- flexible or supple
Derived Formslithely, adverblitheness, nounWord Origin for lithe Old English (in the sense: gentle; C15: supple); related to Old High German lindi soft, Latin lentus slow 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.