What does lithe mean?
Word: Lithe
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Lithe means able to bend and move easily and gracefully, often with a slim, strong body.
Synonyms: supple
Antonyms: clumsy
How do you spell lithe?
Syllables: lithe
Tricky part: Spoken, this word seems to stop at the th, so pupils leave off the silent e that closes it.
Watch out for: laith, leithe, lith
Memory tip: A lithe dancer always finishes the move, even after the music fades. Finish this word the same way, with a quiet e after the th.
Lithe in a sentence
Example 1: Daily yoga has kept my grandmother lithe well into her seventies.
Example 2: The lithe young dancer held the pose without a single tremble.
Example 3: A lithe otter slipped off the rock and into the river with hardly a splash.
Fun Fact
This is a very old English word, in use more than a thousand years ago. In Old English it meant gentle or mild; the sense of bending easily came much later.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Three words in the list are spelt correctly and one is misspelt. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word.
1. sturdy 2. lythe 3. brittle 4. sleek
a) smooth and shiny
b) able to twist and bend smoothly
c) hard but likely to snap
d) strong and not easily damaged
Show answer
b) able to twist and bend smoothly. The y in the second word is the slip; sturdy, brittle and sleek are all printed correctly.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word lithe as used in the sentence:
Thanks to years of gymnastics, Ines has a lithe body that can fold into a neat somersault.
a) nimble
b) flexible
c) slender
d) stiff
Show answer
d) stiff. A body that folds neatly is the reverse of one that will hardly bend at all.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
With one tielh leap, the young cat cleared the garden wall and landed without a sound.
a) title
b) lathe
c) lithe
d) blithe
Show answer
c) lithe. Only five letters are given, with a single t, so the choices needing an a, a b or a second t are out.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
litthe
a) t
b) h
c) e
d) i
Show answer
a) t. Only one t stands before the h.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which animal would a wildlife writer probably call lithe?
a) a tortoise crawling towards a pond
b) a hippo wallowing in thick mud
c) a buffalo standing in a field
d) a cheetah stretching into a sprint
Show answer
d) a cheetah stretching into a sprint
2. A coach calls a young diver lithe. What is she praising?
a) the hours the diver spends in training
b) the way the diver's body folds and turns
c) the diver's loud and cheerful voice
d) the colour of the diver's new costume
Show answer
b) the way the diver's body folds and turns
