English

Alternative forms

• lothly
• laithly, laidly (dialectal)

Adjective

loathly ‎(comparative loathlier, superlative loathliest)

1. loathsome; hideous
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene Volume 1:

     Her loathly visage viewing with disdaine, Eftsoones I thought her such, as she me told, And would haue kild her; but with faigned paine, The false witch did my wrathfull hand with-hold; So left her, where she now is turnd to treen mould.

   • 1885, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Idylls of the King:

     And Merlin answered, 'Overquick art thou To catch a loathly plume fallen from the wing Of that foul bird of rapine whose whole prey Is man's good name: he never wronged his bride.

   • 1922, T.S. Stribling, Birthright:

     This unremitting insistence on his color, this continual shunting him into obscure and filthy ways, gradually gave Peter a loathly sensation.

Etymology 2

From Middle English *lothli, loothly, from Old English lāþlīċe ‎(“hatefully”), equivalent to loath +‎ -ly.

Adverb

loathly ‎(comparative loathlier, superlative loathliest)

1. In a loathsome manner; disgustingly.
2. Unwillingly; reluctantly.

Anagrams

• tally ho, tally-ho, tallyho