loathly

loathly 1[lohth-lee, lohth -] ExamplesWord Origin adverb

1. reluctantly; unwillingly.

Origin of loathly 1 before 1000; Middle English lothliche, Old English lāthlīce. See loath, -ly (adv. suffix) loathly 2[lohth -lee, lohth-] adjective Archaic.

1. loathsome; hideous; repulsive.

Origin of loathly 2 before 900; Middle English lothlic(e), Old English lāthlīc. See loath, -ly (adj. suffix) Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019 Examples from the Web for loathly Historical Examples of loathly

No living thing would that loathly one leave as aloft it flew.

Beowulf

Anonymous

She was unconscious of the loathly business the Colonel was transacting.

Captain Blood

Rafael Sabatini

And perhaps not one a day deserved death so much as that loathly fellow.

Five Tales

John Galsworthy

He came to see us when we had scarlatina, and gave us some loathly medicine!

The Youngest Girl in the Fifth

Angela Brazil

Theirs is now the only voice of Summer, as though they were loathly in the mouth of Summer’s carcase.

Old Junk

H. M. Tomlinson

British Dictionary definitions for loathly loathly 1 adverb

1. with reluctance; unwillingly

loathly 2 adjective

1. an archaic word for loathsome

Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Word Origin and History for loathly adj.

Old English laðlic “hateful, horrible, unpleasant;” see loath + -ly (2). As an adverb, Old English laðlice.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper