Which to use
“loath” and “loathed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,241
- “loath” frequency rank
- #40,782
- “loathed” frequency rank
- 84023
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | loath | loathed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Averse, disinclined; reluctant, unwilling. Always followed by a verbal phrase. | Nonstandard form of loath. |
Letter map: loath vs loathed
Shared letters muted; letters that set loath and loathed apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.
Pair insight - loath / loathed
loath and loathed are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “loath” sits inside “loathed”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
loath is recorded at frequency rank #43,241, classified as anadj, pronounced /ləʊθ/. loathed is at rank #40,782, tagged as anadj.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 84023, this pair ranks #12,746 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of loath vs loathed
Shared letters: ahlot. Private to "loath": -. Private to "loathed": de.
"loath" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "loathed" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "loath" and "loathed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "loath" vs "loathed" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pair "loath" vs "loathed" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "loath" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loathed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #12,746 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "loath" and "loathed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loath vs LSAT". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #12,746 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.