loathing
Americannoun
noun
Related Words
See aversion.
Other Word Forms
- loathingly adverb
- self-loathing adjective
Etymology
Origin of loathing
First recorded in 1300–50, loathing is from the Middle English word lathynge. See loathe, -ing 1
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.
“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
For more than two decades, attorney Robert Silverstein struck fear — and in some cases, loathing — in Hollywood’s real estate establishment.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 2, 2025
“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
Judging by social media, my irrepressible loathing of Leavitt's smug visage and pompous voice makes me typical of my demographic: progressive, college-educated women between the ages of 25 and 65.
From Salon • Jun. 23, 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
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.
