loath

English

Alternative forms

• loth (mostly UK)

Etymology

From loth, from Middle English loth (“disinclined"; "loathsome”), from Old English lāþ (“loathsome", "evil”)

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ləʊθ/
• (US) IPA: /loʊθ/

  Rhymes: -əʊθ

Adjective

loath (comparative loather, superlative loathest)

1. unwilling, reluctant; averse, disinclined

   I was loath to return to the office without the Henderson file.

2. (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

• unwilling, reluctant, averse, disinclined

Related terms

• loathe

Translations

unwilling, reluctant; averse, disinclined

Dutch: afgeneigd (nl), aarzelend (nl), weigerig (nl) Finnish: haluton (fi), vastahakoinen (fi) French: réticent (fr) German: abgeneigt (de)

Russian: нежелающий, неохотный Scottish Gaelic: leisg (gd)

hostile, angry, loathsome, unpleasant

French: hostile (fr) Russian: отталкивающий (ru)

Anagrams

• altho, lotah, tolah