loath
/loʊθ/adjective
loath is spelled L-O-A-T-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,187th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “loath vs loathe” about 5,400 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, loath means “Averse, disinclined; reluctant, unwilling. Always followed by a verbal phrase” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in loath?
| Letters | 5: L-O-A-T-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 43,187th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is loath?
Loath appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,187th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce loath?
- UK /ləʊθ/
- US /loʊθ/
Loath has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-loath.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with loath
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: loathe.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with loath?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as loath from its last stressed vowel (/oʊθ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of loath
- loather comparative
- loathest superlative
- loth
- loathed
- loathe
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does loath mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Averse, disinclined; reluctant, unwilling. Always followed by a verbal phrase.
I was loath to return to the office without the Henderson file.
- 2
obsoleteAngry, hostile.
- 3
obsoleteLoathsome, unpleasant.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Loath in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense averse, disinclined; reluctant, unwilling – see also averse, reluctant:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | hésitant, réticent |
| German | abgeneigt |
| Portuguese | relutante, hesitante, reticente |
| Spanish | poco dispuesto, reticente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does loath come from?
From Middle English lōth (“loath; averse, hateful”), from Old English lāð, lāþ (“evil; loathsome”), or Old Norse leið, leiðr (“uncomfortable; tired”) from Proto-Germanic *laiþaz (“loath; hostile; sad, sorry”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyt- (“to do something abhorrent or hateful”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).