loath
Part of speech: adj
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English lōth (“loath; averse, hateful”), from Old English lāð, lāþ (“evil; loathsome”), or Old Norse leið, leiðr (“uncomfortable; tired”) from Proto-Germanic *laiþaz (“loath; hostile; sad, sorry”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyt- (“to do something abhorrent or hateful”).
The word is cognate with Danish led (“disgusting, loathsome; nasty”), Dutch leed (“sad; (Belgium) angry”), French laid (“ugly; morally corrupt”), Catalan lleig (“ugly”), Icelandic leiður (“annoyed, vexed; sad; (archaic or poetic) annoying, wearisome”), Italian laido (“filthy, foul; obscene”), Old Frisian leed, Old High German leid (Middle High German leit, modern German leid (“uncomfortable”), Leid (“grief, sorrow, woe; affliction, suffering; harm, injury; wrong”)), Old Saxon lêð, lēth (“evil person or thing”), Swedish led (“bored; tired; (archaic) disgusting, loathsome; evil”).
Inflected forms:
form: loather
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: loathest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: loth
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: loathed
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: loathe
pos: adj
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: Averse, disinclined; reluctant, unwilling. Always followed by a verbal phrase.
pos: adj
examples: I was loath to return to the office without the Henderson file.
Then ſaid Faint-heart, Deliver thy Purſe; but he making no haſte to do it (for he was loth to loſe his Money,) Miſtrust ran up to him, and thruſting his hand into his Pocket, pull'd out thence a bag of Silver.
Frankville, whoſe only Fault was raſhneſs, grew almoſt wild at the Recital of ſo unexpected a Misfortune, he knew not for a good while what to believe, loath he was to ſuſpect the Count, but loather to ſuſpect Camilla, yet flew into extremities of Rage againſt both, by turns: […]
"And thereupon I pledge thee," said the young nobleman, "which on any other argument I were loth to do—thinking of Ned as somewhat the cut of a villain."
Of all the people in the world our countrymen are the loathest to give away their money without some reasonable quid pro quo; […]
If I to wed the girl am loth / A breach 'twill surely be—
Ah! dear one, I've been old so long, / It seems that age is loth to part, / Though days and years have never a song, / And, oh! have they still the art / That warmed the pulses of heart to heart?
When the dawn comes, red and gold and purple one is almost loath to seek the cheery, busy earth again, altho the novelty of landing in who knows what part of Europe affords still another unique pleasure. For many the greatest charm of spherical ballooning lies here.
The frizzle-headed man-eaters were loath to leave their fleshpots so long as the harvest of human carcases was plentiful. Sometimes, when the harvest was too plentiful, they imposed on the missionaries by letting the word slip out that on such a day there would be a killing and a barbecue.
But capital was proving difficult to raise; rumours were in the air that the G.W.R. and L.S.W.R. were about to patch up their quarrel, and the people of Southampton, who twelve months earlier had staged a torch-light procession to celebrate the passing of the D.N.S.R. Act, were increasingly loath to part with their cash.
gloss: Angry, hostile.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
gloss: Loathsome, unpleasant.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
Synonyms: averse
disinclined
reluctant
unwilling
Antonyms: antonym(s) of
Related words: loathe
loather
loathe-worthy
loathing
Derived words: loathful
loathly
loathness
loathsome
loathsomely
loathsomeness
loathy
unloath
Translations: