Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Loath
Loath
(lōth)
, Adj.
[OE.
looth
, loth
, AS. lāð
hostile, odious; akin to OS. lāð
, G. leid
, Icel. leiðr
, Sw. led
, G. leiden
to suffer, OHG. līdan
to suffer, go, cf. AS. līðan
to go, Goth. leipan
, and E. lead
to guide.] 1.
Hateful; odious; disliked.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
2.
Filled with disgust or aversion; averse; unwilling; reluctant;
as,
. loath
to partFull
loth
were him to curse for his tithes. Chaucer.
Why, then, though
loath
, yet must I be content. Shakespeare
Webster 1828 Edition
Loath
LOATH
,Definition 2024
loath
loath
See also: loathe
English
Alternative forms
- loth (mostly UK)
Adjective
loath (comparative loather, superlative loathest)
- unwilling, reluctant; averse, disinclined
- I was loath to return to the office without the Henderson file.
- 1911, Jack London, The Whale Tooth
- 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.
- (obsolete) hostile, angry, loathsome, unpleasant
Usage notes
- Often confused in meaning and pronunciation with loathe, a related transitive verb.
- This spelling is about four times as common as "loth" in the UK and fifty times as common in the US.
Synonyms
Related terms
Translations
unwilling, reluctant; averse, disinclined
hostile, angry, loathsome, unpleasant
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