All 5 Uses of
loathe
in
Selected Tales, by Poe
- I loathed her with a hatred belonging more to demon than to man.†
Scene 1 *loathed = detested or intensely disliked
- Suddenly, the color fled, the pulsation ceased, the lips resumed the expression of the dead, and, in an instant afterward, the whole body took upon itself the icy chilliness, the livid hue, the intense rigidity, the sunken outline, and all the loathsome peculiarities of that which has been, for many days, a tenant of the tomb.†
Scene 1loathsome = disgusting or very bad
- I did not, for some weeks, strike, or otherwise violently ill use it; but gradually—very gradually—I came to look upon it with unutterable loathing, and to flee silently from its odious presence, as from the breath of a pestilence.†
Scene 2loathing = disgust or intense dislike
- Whenever I sat, it would crouch beneath my chair, or spring upon my knees, covering me with its loathsome caresses.†
Scene 2loathsome = disgusting or very bad
- It was now the representation of an object that I shudder to name—and for this, above all, I loathed, and dreaded, and would have rid myself of the monster had I dared—it was now, I say, the image of a hideous—of a ghastly thing—of the GALLOWS!†
Scene 2loathed = detested or intensely disliked
Definition:
hate, detest, or intensely dislike
Word Confusion: Do not confuse loathe with loath which sounds very similar or the same. Loathe is a verb while loath is an adjective describing "reluctance or unwillingness to do something." Note that loathing and loathsome are forms of the verb loathe even though both word forms lack the "e". Occasionally, you will see loath spelled as loathe even in a published book, but it is rare enough that it is generally considered an error rather than a non-standard spelling.