lit
- 1Simple past and past participle of light, in the sense of illuminating or starting a fire.
The technician lit the burner and adjusted the flame.
They lit lanterns along the path as dusk fell.
UsageOne form does both jobs: she lit the stove, the stove was lit; lighted is also used.
Note
The short form has a history of its own. It was once spelled light, from Old English līhtte, the old past form of līhtan. It took its short vowel by analogy with bit, the same pattern seen in fit for 'fought'.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Lit was formerly spelled light and descends from Old English līhtte, a past form of līhtan. en.wiktionary.org
- The short-vowel form developed by analogy with bit, with fit meaning 'fought' as a parallel. en.wiktionary.org
- 2Illuminated; giving off or receiving light.
The kitchen was the only lit room in the house when we got home.
A lit window upstairs told them someone was still awake.
UsageUse before a noun (a lit window, a lit corridor) or after a verb (the lights remained lit); lighted means the same.
Similarlighted, illuminated, glowing, luminous, radiant
Note
Luminous leans toward things that give out their own glow, while lit describes what has light on it or in it. The slang senses all grew from this plain one.
- 3Excellent, fantastic, or very cool.
The concert was absolutely lit from the first song to the encore.
Everyone agreed the festival this year was lit.
UsageOften after be or look: the party was lit, photos looking lit.
Similarcool, awesome, excellent, brilliant, dope
Note
Besides parties and shows, the praise often lands on things: jeans, sneakers, photos, an office. A favorite frame is looking lit, as in Connect Magazine's 2019 tips 'to get our Instagram photos looking lit.' The phrase 'a very lit and elegant office' in Art Bodega Magazine shows the hazard. It could mean stylish or merely bright, since the plain 'illuminated' adjective shares the spelling.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Connect Magazine used the quoted wording in 2019. en.wiktionary.org
- The phrase 'a very lit and elegant office' appears in Art Bodega Magazine. en.wiktionary.org
- 4Short for literature: books and other writing and the study of them, or printed handouts and information sheets.
The volunteers passed out lit on every street corner.
He skimmed the product lit before buying anything.
UsageOften used before another noun (lit review, a lit class) or after one (product lit, campaign lit).
Less common meanings
- 5Drunk or intoxicated; under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
By midnight half the wedding guests were thoroughly lit.
He stumbled home lit and barely made it up the stairs.
UsageOften get lit or very lit; everyone was lit can also mean having a great time.
Similarhigh, stoned, wasted, drugged, baked
Oppositesober
Note
The oldest of the slang uses, it was in print by the 1920s. A 1932 letter by Hart Crane has it: 'True to my word last night, I got very lit.' Its synonym stoned leans toward drugs, but lit covers both drugs and drink.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The quotation reproduces Crane's wording exactly. gutenberg.org
- 6Simple past and past participle of light, in the sense of alighting or landing.
The sparrow lit on the windowsill at dawn.
Three crows lit on the fence and waited.
UsageUsually followed by on: crows lit on the fence.
Note
Here light is the old verb of coming down, the one still heard in alight. It shares its spelling, but not its history, with the past of kindling. Florence Merriam Bailey's bird in A-birding on a Bronco (1896), after edging along falteringly, 'lit on a branch above them.'
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- The landing verb light is old and historically related to alight. en.wiktionary.org
- The landing and kindling verbs share the spelling lit. en.wiktionary.org
- Florence Merriam Bailey wrote A-birding on a Bronco. gutenberg.org
- A-birding on a Bronco was first published in 1896. gutenberg.org
- The bird edges along falteringly and then 'lit on a branch above them', with that exact wording. gutenberg.org
- 7To run, or to alight by coming down and settling on something.
With that the kid lits off down the street, and, what do you know!
1988, Grant Pick, “Johnny Washington's Life”Similaralight, settle, land, dash
Note
A regional verb grown from an old past tense: the earlier past form of light, used as a fresh present that can take its own endings, as in lits. Grant Pick, writing in the Chicago Reader in 1988, has it in motion: "the kid lits off down the street." Off suits the running sense, while down or on suits settling. Outside US dialect it reads as a slip for the "alight" past tense, so keep it to reported speech.
- 8Small in size, amount, or extent.
Note
An obsolete adjective that has nothing to do with light. It comes from Old English lȳt, 'little, few', from the same Germanic root as little. That root goes back further to one meaning 'to cower, hunch over.' Only the spelling survives, and it now belongs to the 'illuminated' meaning. A modern reader who meets 'a lit house' pictures lamps in the windows, not a small building.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- Lit meaning 'little' is an obsolete adjective. en.wiktionary.org
- The obsolete adjective has a different origin from lit meaning 'illuminated'. en.wiktionary.org
- The adjective derives from Old English lȳt, meaning 'little, few'. en.wiktionary.org
- Lit and little share Germanic ancestry. en.wiktionary.org
- The earlier reconstructed root meant to cower or hunch over. en.wiktionary.org
- 9A small amount or quantity; not much.
Note
The noun names an amount rather than a size, the way 'a little' still does today. It is a mass noun with no plural, and it is long out of use. It shares its Old English origin with the obsolete adjective 'little'. In modern writing, a noun lit is almost always short for literature, as in a lit class.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- The obsolete noun means a small amount and is uncountable, without a plural. en.wiktionary.org
- The obsolete noun and adjective share their origin in Old English lȳt. en.wiktionary.org
- Lit is also a shortening of literature. en.wiktionary.org
- 10Sexually aroused, especially in a visibly obvious way.
- 11To color or dye something.
- 12Color or hue; a dye or stain used to give something color.
Showing meanings only.
lit is a form of light
light, verb: To illuminate, or give brightness to, a place or a way. Full entry
- Spelling
- light → lit: irregular (no -ed)
Practice
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Origins
An alteration of the earlier past tense "light," from Middle English "lighte" and Old English "līhtte," the past tense of "līhtan" (to light), reshaped by analogy with "bit." It was frowned upon in the 18th and 19th centuries in favour of "lighted," but is now the most common past form of "light."
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Lit is an alteration of the earlier past tense light, descending through Middle English lighte from Old English līhtte, a past tense of līhtan, meaning 'to light'. en.wiktionary.org
- The form lit was reshaped by analogy with bit. en.wiktionary.org
- Lit was disapproved of during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with lighted preferred. en.wiktionary.org
*lewd-, a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to cower, hunch over," led to Proto-Germanic *lūtilaz ("little, small") and then Old English lȳt ("little, few"), which became Middle English lit. Old Saxon lut and the word little are related.
A shortening of "literature."
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- Lit is a shortening of literature. en.wiktionary.org