light-heeled

English

Etymology

From light (“lacking weight”, adjective) +‎ heeled (“having heels”, adjective).

Pronunciation
  • enPR: lītʹhēld

Adjective

light-heeled (comparative lighter-heeled or more light-heeled, superlative lightest-heeled or most light-heeled)

  1. (archaic) Nimble or lively in walking or running; swift of foot.
  2. (obsolete) Of loose character; not chaste; immoral. Literally, as if by the flying up of the heels, one is apt to fall flat on their back.[1]
    a light-heeled wench

Synonyms

References
  1. Francis Grose (1796), “Light-heeled”, in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 3rd edition, Hooper & Co.: “A light-heeled wench; one who is apt, by the flying up of her heels, to fall flat on her back, a willing wench.”
  • The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1914
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