loathe
/ˈloʊð/verb
loathe is spelled L-O-A-T-H-E: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,070th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “loath vs loathe” about 5,400 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, loathe means “To detest, hate, or revile (someone or something)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in loathe?
| Letters | 6: L-O-A-T-H-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 25,070th 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 loathe?
Loathe appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,070th 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 loathe?
- UK /ˈləʊð/
- US /ˈloʊð/
Loathe 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-us-loathe.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with loathe
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: loath.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with loathe?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as loathe from its last stressed vowel (/oʊð/):
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 loathe
- loathes present, singular, he/she/it
- loathing participle, present
- loathed participle, past
- loath
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does loathe mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To detest, hate, or revile (someone or something).
I loathe scrubbing toilets.
- 2
obsoleteTo induce or inspire disgust (in a person)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Loathe in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to detest, hate, revile:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | exécrer, détester, haïr |
| German | verabscheuen, ablehnen, hassen |
| Portuguese | detestar |
| Spanish | detestar, repugnar, odiar |
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 loathe come from?
From Middle English lothe, from Old English lāþian, from Proto-West Germanic *laiþēn, from Proto-Germanic *laiþāną. Cognate with Old Norse leiðask ( > Danish ledes, Icelandic leiðast, all reflexive), German Leid.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).