Crossword clues for loath
loath
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Loath \Loath\ (l[=o]th), a. [OE. looth, loth, AS. l[=a][eth] hostile, odious; akin to OS. l[=a][eth], G. leid, Icel. lei[eth]r, Sw. led, G. leiden to suffer, OHG. l[=i]dan to suffer, go, cf. AS. l[=i][eth]an to go, Goth. leipan, and E. lead to guide.]
Hateful; odious; disliked. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.-
Filled with disgust or aversion; averse; unwilling; reluctant; as, loath to part.
Full loth were him to curse for his tithes.
--Chaucer.Why, then, though loath, yet must I be content.
--Shak.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Old English lað "hated; hateful; hostile; repulsive," from Proto-Germanic *laithaz (cognates: Old Saxon, Old Frisian leth "loathsome," Old Norse leiðr "hateful, hostile, loathed;" Middle Dutch lelijc, Dutch leelijk "ugly;" Old High German leid "sorrowful, hateful, offensive, grievous," German Leid "sorrow;" French laid "ugly," from Frankish (Germanic) *laid), from PIE root *leit- "to detest."\n
\nWeakened meaning "averse, disinclined" is attested from late 14c. Loath to depart, a line from some long-forgotten song, is recorded since 1580s as a generic term expressive of any tune played at farewells, the sailing of a ship, etc. Related: Loathness.
Wiktionary
a. 1 unwilling, reluctant; averse, disinclined 2 (context obsolete English) hostile, angry, loathsome, unpleasant
WordNet
adj. unwillingness to do something contrary to your custom; "a reluctant smile"; "loath to admit a mistake"; "unwilling to face facts" [syn: loth, reluctant]
(usually followed by `to') strongly opposed; "antipathetic to new ideas"; "averse to taking risks"; "loath to go on such short notice"; "clearly indisposed to grant their request" [syn: antipathetic, antipathetical, averse(p), indisposed(p), loath(p), loth(p)]
Wikipedia
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Usage examples of "loath".
Bahzell had hostage right to carry his personal weapons whenever he chose, but one sight of the arbalest by any sentry would raise questions he dared not answer, and he hesitated, loath to abandon it, then whirled as the door opened silently once more.
Yes, this would be Hogan the hound and the praying man, Busche, and the one person Strongman would be the most loath to see alive: the Maidservant.
And therfore the poets feined not their fables in vain, considering that children in time of their first studies, are very much allured thereby to proceed to more grave and deepe studies and disciplines, whereas their mindes would quickly loath the wise and prudent workes of learned men, wherein in such unripe years they take no spark of delectation at all.
Bulgaria could with difficulty be satisfied except by Serbian sacrifices which the Entente was loath to make.
She asked Cousin Lymon to come with her, in fact, she asked him seven times, but he was loath to leave the commotion and wanted to remain.
She sat down in the angle of the wall and the floor, outside in the passage, and Christine, nothing loath, sat down alongside, smelling as usual of pipi, but Rachel was too numb to object.
Much as Kate was loath to admit it, especially while the woman in question was hanging all over the viscount, Maria Rosso did possess the voice of an angel.
Pippy, who thereupon had been forced to earn her living in almost the only way possible for a woman of her advanced age,, Knowing her to be a woman of taste, culture and refinement, Maisie had induced Dan to engage her ak his housekeeper, which he was very loath to do, owing to serious objection on the part of Sooey Wan.
Besides, the blood transports the animal spirit, and I would be loath to infuse the bestiality of an ox into a person.
This day, loath to bestir himself from his horse, William Belfour leaned his arms on his saddle and waited patiently for his mount to drink from the pond behind the mill that served Hawkwatch Manor.
They are dying out day by day in such manner that I fear greatly to see these illustrious fragments of the ancient breviary spat upon, staled upon, set at naught, dishonoured, and blamed, the which I should be loath to see, since I have and bear great respect for the refuse of our Gallic antiquities.
And I do confess I am loath to throw my money in with this new Bank, and my lot in with this Juncto, when our money is to be recoined by a savant whose ideas are recondite, and whose motives are a source of endless puzzlement to me.
General Grant, and that it has an object which, if you understood, you would be loath to frustrate.
He called himself an assemblagist sculptor, which meant that he was a packrat, loath to throw out anything.
Loath as Banks was to leave Yorkshire, especially after so recently buying the cottage, he was fast coming to admit that his days there seemed numbered.