Loath
[ləʊθ] or [loθ]
Definition
(adj.) unwillingness to do something contrary to your custom; 'a reluctant smile'; 'loath to admit a mistake' .
Edited by Eileen--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Hateful; odious; disliked.
(a.) Filled with disgust or aversion; averse; unwilling; reluctant; as, loath to part.
Checked by Alden
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. Reluctant, backward, unwilling, averse, disinclined, indisposed, not disposed.
Checked by Emil
Definition
adj. disliking: reluctant unwilling.—adv. Loath′ly.—n. Loath′ness.
Checked by Karol
Examples
- She was immensely happy to be free of the place, and yet loath to go. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- I was very loath to send Sherman, because his men needed rest after their long march from Memphis and hard fighting at Chattanooga. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- No doubt the Greek artists who came to Gandhara were loath to relinquish a familiar theme. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The people are loath to kill them--do not kill them, in fact. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Mother and sisters gathered close, as if loath to give Meg up. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- Deed, I am loath,' returned Rachael, drying her eyes, 'that any here should see me like this; but I won't be seen so again. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- Nothing loath, Helena did so, and was shortly one mass of delicious bloom, from which her face peered out like some laughing Dryad. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- The intellectual man has been loath to come to grips with the forcible man. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Phaidor, though loath to believe that Issus was allied to such as these, had commenced to entertain doubts and fears. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
Checked by Cindy