loath

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 10, 2026 is: loath • \LOHTH\  • adjective A person who is loath to do something is unwilling or reluctant to do that thing. // Proud of the company he had built, Henry was loath to admit that it was time to think about retiring. See the entry > Examples: “On these runs, I was loath to stop. I dreaded zebra crossings and the city-center pavements, and instead ran into the surrounding countryside, abandoning myself to the endless roads that seemed to be going nowhere.” — Madeline Potter, The Roma: A Traveling History, 2025 Did you know? Loath as some language sticklers may be to accept it—indeed, they may loathe the fact—loathe is an accepted, though less common, spelling variant of the adjective loath. The language sticklers know that loathe is most often used as a verb meaning "to hate," and their desire to keep the language tidy by letting loath alone mean "not willing or wanting to do something" is understandable. But here’s the rub: language is very often untidy. Both loath and loathe trace back to the Old English word lāth, meaning “loathsome, disgusting.” Each has had a number of variant spellings over the years, and for at least some portion of their history each word has taken on the spelling of the other. If you would like to keep the two distinct according to prevailing preferences, remember that loath is how you feel (reluctant, unwilling), and loathe is what you do (hate, dislike).