Word.ws English Dictionary

lither

Syllables: lith·er/ˈlɪðə/US/ˈlɪðɚ/

lither adjective: lazy, slothful; listless. Also the comparative form of lithe.

Adjective

lither (comparative more lither, superlative most lither)

  1. (UK, archaic, dialectal) Lazy, slothful; listless.
    • After the same manner a Monk (I mean those lither, idle, lazie Monks) doth not labour and work, as do the Peasant and Artificer: doth not ward and defend the countrey, as doth the man of warre: cureth not the sick and diseased, as the Physician doth: doth neither preach nor teach, as do the...1653, Francis Rabelais [i.e., François Rabelais], translated by [Thomas Urquhart, Peter Anthony Motteux], “Why Monks are the Out-casts of the World; and wherefore Some Have Bigger Noses than...
    • "It is thine own laziness, thou false English blood, that doest nothing but drink and sleep," retorted the page, "and leaves that lither lad to do the work, that he minds as little as thou."1820, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and...
  2. (UK, archaic, dialectal) Flexible, supple; also, agile, lithe.
    • Thou antique Death, vvhich laugh'ſt vs here to ſcorn, / Anon from thy inſulting Tyrannie, / Coupled in bonds of perpetuitie, / Tvvo Talbots vvinged through the lither Skie, / In thy deſpight ſhall ſcape Mortalitie.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  3. (obsolete) Bad, evil; false.
    • The follest slouen ondyr heuen, / Prowde, peuiche, lyddyr, and lewde, / Malapert, medyllar, nothyng well thewde, […]a. 1530 (date written), John Skelton, “Poems against Garnesche. Skelton Laureate Defendar ageinst Lusty Garnyshe Well Beseen Crystofer Chalangar, et cetera.”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical...
    • For though some be lidder, and list for to rayle, / Yet to lie vpon me they can not preuayle: […]c. 1515–1516 (date written; published 1568), John Skelton, “Against Venemous Tongues Enpoysoned with Sclaunder and False Detractions, &c.”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John...
  4. (obsolete) In poor physical condition.
    • [Y]it lyes / Aphipnas ſnorting faſt a ſléepe not mynding for to wake, / Wrapt in a cloke of Bearſkinnes which in Oſſa mount were take. And in his lither hand he hilld a potte of wyne.1567, Ovid, “The Twelfth Booke”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, […], London: […] Willyam Seres […], →OCLC, folio 152, verso

Also used as

lither is also the comparative form of lithe.

Synonyms of lither

3 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

10 more antonymsFewer antonyms

Forms of lither

comparativemore lither
superlativemost lither
alternative formlidder

Origin of lither

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”)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Words formed from lither

Words that rhyme with lither

1 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about lither

What does lither mean?
Lither means lazy, slothful; listless.
What part of speech is lither?
Lither is an adjective.
How do you pronounce lither?
Lither is pronounced /ˈlɪðə/ (UK).

Words near lither in the dictionary

  1. lithened
  2. litheness
  3. lithenesses
  4. lithening
  5. lithens
  6. lither
  7. Litherland
  8. Litherlands
  9. litherly
  10. litherness
  11. lithes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lither (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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