Meanings
comparative more lothly · superlative most lothly · alternative loathly
- In a loth manner.
Even the rank poplars bear / Lothly a rival's air.
1887, Thomas Hardy, In a Wood1 more example
The bodies which the plague had ſlaine were (O moſt wretched caſe) / Not caried forth to buriall now. For why ſuch ſtore there was / That ſcarce the gates were wyde inough for Coffins forth to paſſe. / So eyther lothly on the ground vnburied did they lie, / Or elſe without ſolemnitie were burnt in bonfires hie / No reuerence nor regard was had.
1567, Ovid, “The Seventh Booke”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, […], London: […] Willyam Seres […], →OCLC, folio 90, verso
Origin
- Old Englishlāþlīċe“hatefully”
- Middle English*lothli
- Englishlothly
From Middle English *lothli, loothly, from Old English lāþlīċe (“hatefully”); equivalent to loth + -ly.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
lothly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lothly
“lothly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lothly. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lothly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lothly.
Source: lothly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.