# lither

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈlɪðə/

## Definitions
1. Lazy, slothful; listless.
2. Flexible, supple; also, agile, lithe.
3. Bad, evil; false.
4. In 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”)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/lither