lither
/ˈlɪðə/
"lither" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lither” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as an adjective - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Lazy, slothful; listless.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lither |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈlɪðə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lither” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for lither is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlɪðə/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for lither in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English lither, lyther (“deceitful; evil; false; treacherous; sinful, wicked; leading to cruelty, injustice, or wickedness, perverted; of a country: filled with wicked people; cruel, fierce; dangerous, deadly; frightening; grievous, painful; har… The correct English form is lither, spelled L-I-T-H-E-R.
Definition
- 1Lazy, slothful; listless.
- 2Flexible, supple; also, agile, lithe.
- 3Bad, evil; false.
- 4In poor physical condition.
Etymology
From Middle English lither, lyther (“deceitful; evil; false; treacherous; sinful, wicked; leading to cruelty, injustice, or wickedness, perverted; of a country: filled with wicked people; cruel, fierce; dangerous, deadly; frightening; grievous, painful; harmful, injurious; miserable, paltry, poor, worthless; feeble, sluggish; cowardly”) [and other forms], from Old English lȳþre (“bad, wicked; base, mean, wretched; corrupt”) [and other forms], from Proto-Germanic *lūþrijaz (“bad; dissolute; neglected; useless”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lew- (“limp, slack”). Sense 1.2 (“flexible, supple; agile, lithe”) is influenced by lithe. Cognates Dutch lodder (“wanton person”), loddering (“drowsy; trifling; wanton”) German liederlich (“dissolute”), German lotterig (“slovenly”), lüderlich (“slovenly”) Old English loþrung (“delusion, rubbish, nonsense”), loddere (“beggar”)
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “lither”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-I-T-H-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlɪðə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.