Past tense of loathe; felt intense dislike or disgust for someone or something. Regarded with hatred or revulsion.
From Old English 'lāthian,' meaning 'to hate' or 'be hateful,' related to 'lāth' (hateful, hostile). The word is cognate with Old Norse 'leiðr' (loathsome) and German 'Leid' (sorrow). The spelling with 'oa' developed in Middle English.
The word 'loathe' is often confused with 'loath' (unwilling), but they're completely different - one is a verb expressing hatred, the other an adjective meaning reluctant. Interestingly, something 'loathsome' makes you 'loath' to approach it, creating a neat linguistic connection between the concepts of disgust and reluctance.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.