loathe means to detest, hate, or revile (someone or something). Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 71 out of 100.
loathe is pronounced /ˈləʊð/.
Why “loathe” is a great word
LOATHE — [Verb] To feel intense disgust for or hatred toward someone or something. From Middle English lothe, from Old English lāþian ("to be hateful, cause disgust"), from Proto-West Germanic *laiþēn, from Proto-Germanic *laiþāną ("to cause loathing"). Unlike "detest," which implies a vehement, often moral condemnation, or "dislike," which suggests a mild or manageable aversion, to loathe is a profound physical revulsion. It is the involuntary curl of the lip at a cloying scent, the cold twist in the gut at a remembered cruelty, the impossibility of forcing another bite of a food now grown sickening—a hatred not of principle, but of primal nerve, a flaw in the very air you must breathe.
Etymology
From Middle English lothe, from Old English lāþian, from Proto-West Germanic *laiþēn, from Proto-Germanic *laiþāną. Cognate with Old Norse leiðask ( > Danish ledes, Icelandic leiðast, all reflexive), German Leid.
verb
- To detest, hate, or revile (someone or something).“I loathe scrubbing toilets.”
- To induce or inspire disgust (in a person)“How heartily he serves me! his face loathes one,
But look upon his care, who would not love him?”