Lite
adj, noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Archaic form of light (“window or aperture in a building”). alt-of, archaic
- 2 A little, bit. British, dialectal, uncountable
- 3 The act of waiting; a wait. British, dialectal
- 4 A window pane
- 1 To expect; wait. British, dialectal
- 2 To rely. British, dialectal
- 1 Abridged or lesser; being a simpler or unpaid version of a product. not-comparable, postpositional, usually
- 2 few; little British, dialectal
- 3 Light in composition, notably low in fat, calories etc. Most commonly used commercially. not-comparable
"His lite dinner consisted of crackers, some broccoli and a salad with lite ranch dressing."
- 4 Lightweight not-comparable
- 5 Informal spelling of light. alt-of, informal, not-comparable
"My favorite color is lite blue!"
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- 6 Lacking substance or seriousness; watered down. not-comparable, postpositional, usually
"this compromise bill is reform lite. It is both more palatable to nursing home owners and less protective of elderly patients"
- 1 having relatively few calories wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"You were the one who ignited this fire that just needed to be let out and to be lite up."
Etymology
Variation of light (in the sense of lacking weight, substance, etc.)
From Middle English lit, lut (“little”), from Old English lȳt.
From Middle English liten, from Old Norse hlíta (“to rely on, trust, abide by”). Cognate with Icelandic hlíta (“to comply”), Swedish lita (“to trust, rely on, depend on, confide in”), Danish lide (“to trust”).
Related phrases
More for "lite"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.