- 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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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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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:
“Last summer there was lots of kind of fear and loathing about AI,” Lichtenberg said, “and I feel like there’s been a vibe shift.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 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
While taking this stand, the authors also used the letter to "assert without reservation our absolute opposition to and loathing of antisemitism, of anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli prejudice".
From BBC ● May 28, 2025
From then on, there was no rest for Joan, a performer whose unsparing wickedness earned her praise, loyalty and loathing.
From Salon ● May 14, 2025
I dared to look back with the greatest loathing I had ever felt.
From "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" by Avi
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.
