Loath

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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[imac]dan to
     suffer, go, cf. AS. l[imac][eth]an to go, Goth. leipan, and
     E. lead to guide.]
     1. Hateful; odious; disliked. [Obs.] --Chaucer.


        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Filled with disgust or aversion; averse; unwilling;
        reluctant; as, loath to part.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Full loth were him to curse for his tithes.
                                                    --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Why, then, though loath, yet must I be content.
                                                    --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  loath
       adj 1: unwillingness to do something contrary to your custom; "a
              reluctant smile"; "loath to admit a mistake";
              "unwilling to face facts" [syn: {loth}, {reluctant}]
       2: (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)}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  23 Moby Thesaurus words for "loath":
     afraid, apathetic, averse, backward, balking, balky, dilatory,
     disinclined, grudging, hesitant, indifferent, indisposed, laggard,
     perfunctory, reluctant, renitent, restive, slow, slow to, uneager,
     unenthusiastic, unwilling, unzealous