lithe

Meanings

1. Bending easily; flexible and graceful.
2. Slim but not skinny.

Example sentences

• "The lithe gymnast moved across the floor with ease."

  Level C1, Meaning 1

• "A lithe cat slipped through the gap in the fence."

  Level C1, Meaning 1

• "He kept a lithe frame by swimming every day."

  Level C1, Meaning 2

• "The dancer's lithe movements held the whole audience."

  Level C1, Meaning 1

Synonyms and antonyms

Look-alikes and common mistakes

• lissome : Lissome is a close synonym, used mostly in British English and in a literary style.
• slim : Slim describes build only. Lithe also describes graceful, flexible movement.
• limber : Limber means warmed up and ready to move, often after exercise. Lithe is a lasting quality.
• listless : Listless means without energy. It looks like lithe but is not a synonym.

Word family and forms

Forms: lither, lithest

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "lithe".

• lithe body
• lithe movements
• a lithe dancer
• lithe and agile
• lithe frame
• lithe figure
• lithe as a cat

Origin

Lithe comes from Old English lithe, which meant gentle or mild, through Middle English lith or lithe. It is related to German lind, meaning mild, and to Latin lentus. Over time it came to describe things that bend easily, and now it is used mostly for graceful bodies and movements.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Dictionary.com.

How to remember it

Lithe rhymes with writhe. Picture a ribbon or a stretching cat: it bends easily and does not break.

Test yourself

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