lither

Definition of lither

5 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

adj

(British, archaic, dialectal)Lazy, slothful; listless.

“"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."”
“Secondarily, let him which laboureth in his vocation be prompt and active; let him be watchful and able to abide labour; he must be no lither-back, unapt, or slothful fellow. Whatsoever he doth, that let him do with faith and diligence.”
“Thus he [Rabelais] sketched an education which might have befitted a great King, without a word of ribaldry or scorn, and in such a spirit as proves that he gravely condemned the lazy, lither system of the monasteries.”

See all 5 definitions

adj

(British, archaic, dialectal)Lazy, slothful; listless.

“"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."”
“Secondarily, let him which laboureth in his vocation be prompt and active; let him be watchful and able to abide labour; he must be no lither-back, unapt, or slothful fellow. Whatsoever he doth, that let him do with faith and diligence.”
“Thus he [Rabelais] sketched an education which might have befitted a great King, without a word of ribaldry or scorn, and in such a spirit as proves that he gravely condemned the lazy, lither system of the monasteries.”
(British, 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.”
(obsolete)Bad, evil; false.

“The follest slouen ondyr heuen, / Prowde, peuiche, lyddyr, and lewde, / Malapert, medyllar, nothyng well thewde, […]”
“For though some be lidder, and list for to rayle, / Yet to lie vpon me they can not preuayle: […]”
(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.”
(comparative, form-of)comparative form of lithe: more lithe

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

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;…

See full 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”)

Anagrams of lither

3 plays · some not in Scrabble

Words you can make from lither

53 playable · top: ITHER (8 pts)

Best play ither 8 points

5-letter words

7 words

4-letter words

18 words

3-letter words

16 words

2-letter words

11 words

Hooks

2 extensions · 2 front

A single letter you can add to lither to make another valid word.