lithe

Name: lithe, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/laɪð/

//laɪð// adj

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“lithe” is uncommon English (frequency #54,311 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,311
frequency rank, English: 2,297
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Mild; calm.

Corpus desk

Index EN-lithe · lithe · English

lithe · rank #54,311 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

FREQ-RARE #54,311
LEN-MID 5 letters
VOW-2 2 vowels
CONFUS-0 No pairs
VAR-0 0 variants
BOOK-MID 2,297
PHOTO-FINISH liquorice

Nearest frequency peer: liquorice (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

limbic

45,694
liquorice

45,691
lithe

45,690
longshot

45,687
Louvain

45,686
Lucretia

45,685

What this shows Bars show where “lithe” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Key facts for lithe
Property	Value
Headword	lithe
Language	English
Part of speech	Adjective
IPA	/laɪð/
Letters	5
Frequency rank	#54,311
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “lithe” sits in English frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).lithelands here:

#54,311

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “liquorice” (#54,310), “longshot” (#54,314), “limbic” (#54,307). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lithe is uncommon English at frequency #54,311 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /laɪð/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for lithe in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English lithe, from Old English līþe (“gentle, mild”), from Proto-West Germanic *linþ(ī), from Proto-Germanic *linþaz, from Proto-Indo-European *lentos. Akin to Saterland Frisian lied (“thin, skinny, gaunt”), Danish, Dutch, and archaic German li… The correct English form is lithe, spelled L-I-T-H-E.

Definition

1
Mild; calm.
2
Slim but not skinny.
3
Capable of being easily bent; flexible.
4
Adaptable.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how lithe appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

lithe weather
The noise of their battle with Numa had drawn an excited horde of savages from the nearby village, and a moment after the lion’s death the two men were surrounded by lithe, ebon warriors, gesticulating and jabbering—a thousand questions that drowned each ventured reply.

Etymology

From Middle English lithe, from Old English līþe (“gentle, mild”), from Proto-West Germanic *linþ(ī), from Proto-Germanic *linþaz, from Proto-Indo-European *lentos. Akin to Saterland Frisian lied (“thin, skinny, gaunt”), Danish, Dutch, and archaic German lind (“mild”). Some sources also list Latin lenis (“soft”) and/or Latin lentus (“supple”) as possible cognates.

This word in other languages

svelte(Français)ruhig(Deutsch)calmo(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "lithe"?

"lithe" is spelled L-I-T-H-E. The IPA pronunciation is /laɪð/.

What does "lithe" mean?

As an adjective, "lithe" means: Mild; calm.

How do you pronounce "lithe"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lithe" is /laɪð/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "lithe"?

From Middle English lithe, from Old English līþe (“gentle, mild”), from Proto-West Germanic *linþ(ī), from Proto-Germanic *linþaz, from Proto-Indo-European *lentos. Akin to Saterland Frisian lied (“thin, skinny, gaunt”), Danish, Dutch, and archaic... See the full etymology section above for more details.

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "lithe", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

LGBTI#54,305 leggy#54,301 Mejia#54,332 Kloss#54,286

What to do next

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Usage frequency rank #54,311 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
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Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.