- present participle of loathe.
loathing
Americannoun
-
loathings
plural
noun
Synonym Usage
See aversion.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of loathing
First recorded in 1300–50, loathing is from the Middle English word lathynge. See loathe, -ing 1
Explanation
Loathing is a feeling of complete disgust. Your loathing of the feeling of sand between your toes means that going to the beach isn't much fun for you. If you have an utterly disgusted hatred of something, you have a loathing for it. A loathing of green vegetables can result in nutritional problems, and a loathing of little kids would make a person a pretty terrible babysitter. To loathe something is to abhor or strongly dislike it; the Old English root of both loathe and loathing is laðian, to be disgusted with.
Vocabulary lists containing loathing
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
His film has ill will spewing from every pore, a complete loathing for humanity.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026
It won’t hush the din, but there’s nothing like mutual loathing to foster a sense of community.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Michael Jackson is a prime example of this conundrumFor his millions of devotees their love for him is rivalled in intensity only by their seething loathing for his critics.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026
“We wear your loathing with pride,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a post on X addressed to S&P, adding that the company “is and remains extremely profitable.”
From Barron's ● Nov. 27, 2025
Having a respect that amounted to reverence for the truth, he had also its natural opposite, a loathing of a lie.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Even divorced from the sympathies and loathings of my next-gen bias, I can’t help but feel that when we flock en masse to Tiger, we somehow undermine his heirs.
From Golf Digest ● Jan. 24, 2018
There’s much to be said for the comedy that Lena Dunham and her co-writers plumbed from the seething jealousies and loathings between their main characters.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 14, 2017
Actual living humans—in this case, my baby girl—are reduced to Grumpy Cat memes as every day the Internet offers up new canvasses where other people can project their fears and loathings.
From Slate ● Nov. 18, 2015
Those established loyalties and loathings are fundamental to the excitement that football generates.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 20, 2010
Her sighs were given to him, her loathings to the other.
From Graham's Magazine Vol XXXIII No. 5 November 1848 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
