Word of the Day

: April 24, 2018

loath

adjective LOHTH

What It Means

: unwilling to do something contrary to one's ways of thinking : reluctant

loath in Context

My grandfather was naturally very proud of the company he had built, so he was loath to admit that it was time to think about selling it and retiring.

"It seems like a lot of film directors are loath to embrace VR for the same reason that Roger Ebert famously dismissed video games as a form of art: They think it's a gimmick that punishes artistry in the name of the medium's requirements." — Alex McLevy, The A.V. Club, 15 Mar. 2018

Did You Know?

Many usage commentators point out that the spelling of loath, the adjective, is distinct from loathe, the verb that means "to dislike greatly." Merriam-Webster dictionaries do record loathe (along with loth) as a variant spelling for the adjective, but at the same time indicate that the loath spelling is the most common one. The adjective and the verb both hark back to Old English, and the "e" ending in each has come and gone over the centuries—but if you want to avoid the ire of those who like to keep the language tidy, stick with loath for the adjective and loathe for the verb.