lite

1 of 2

adjective

ˈlīt 

1

: light entry 4 sense 9a

lite beer

lite salad dressing

2

: diminished or lacking in substance or seriousness

lite news

specifically : being an innocuous or unthreatening version

—often used postpositively

it is film noir lite

—James Greenberg

-lite

2 of 2

noun combining form

: mineral

rhodolite

: rock

aerolite

: fossil

stromatolite

Examples of lite in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

The catch is that SpaceX is only offering the lite plan in about 15 US states, including Iowa, Maine, North Dakota, Minnesota, and New Mexico, where the company appears to have additional capacity for the Starlink network. —Michael Kan, PCMAG, 28 Feb. 2025

Throughout Saya, Gray constructs a world of sonic surrealism — seamlessly melding swirling harp, taut acoustic guitars, and warm piano tones with glitchy beats and lite-industrial bass lines. —Gabrielle MacAfee, Rolling Stone, 19 Feb. 2025

The lite version was expected to expand Apple's audience by offering a more accessible entry point into spatial computing, albeit with reduced functionality. —Moin Roberts-Islam, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024

His woozy, Max B–lite melodies, hustler’s spirit raps that could work in classic Vado freestyles, and Dyckman shoutouts create a link between his Auto-Tune experiments and the fly party rap that’s been coming out of New York since the birth of hip-hop. —Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 9 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun combining form

borrowed from French, respelling of earlier -lithe, borrowed from Greek líthos "stone, rock," of obscure origin

Note: As pointed out by the Oxford English Dictionary, first edition, the acceptability of the non-classical spelling -lite for -lithe or -lith may have been advanced by the long-established word chrysolite.

First Known Use

Adjective

1962, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for lite

• bight
• bite
• blight
• byte
• cite
• dight
• acolyte
• aconite
• allanite
• alunite
• amberlite
• ammonite

Medical Definition

lite

variant of light entry 2