loathsome

adjective

ˈlōth-səm How to pronounce loathsome (audio)
Definition of loathsomenext
as in disgusting
causing intense displeasure, disgust, or resentment we traced the foul smell to a pile of loathsome garbage by the back wall

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of loathsome Assayas’s aesthetic is too genteel to even imagine the specifics of loathsome doctrines. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 13 May 2026 Helping the audience understand loathsome people without understanding them is a more subtle, if equally essential, inheritance. — Alison Herman, Variety, 12 Apr. 2026 Most of Becket’s relatives are loathsome (Grace is funny as a fraudulent self-help quasi-religious guru), though his uncle (the great Bill Camp) is a decent fellow who wants to lend Becket a hand. — Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 18 Feb. 2026 In the show’s first episode, Jaquel Spivey, who starred in the Broadway production of A Strange Loop, a musical about the experience of being a self-hating fat gay Black man, is introduced as a loathsome incel. — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for loathsome
Recent Examples of Synonyms for loathsome
  1. disgusting
  2. ugly
  3. awful
  4. horrible
  5. sickening
  6. hideous
  7. obnoxious
  8. obscene
Adjective
  • People tend to think of waste as trash, sewage, slag, manure and other seemingly useless or disgusting substances.
    — Edward D. Melillo, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2026
  • The better to act out empire’s idea of what disgusting demonic sickness looks like.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of disgusting
Adjective
  • Without all that, the series misses out on the ugly, earthy, sensual details that could have complicated her past blank innocence.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Earlier this season, the Seahawks coach described a dispute with Payton that got ugly enough for Seattle to threaten a lawsuit.
    — Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of ugly
Adjective
  • He was held back by something else, a feeling that some awful truth about his familiar, beloved world was now being revealed to him.
    — Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
  • His death was already sudden and awful, and the call was jarring and unexpected.
    — Heidi Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of awful
Adjective
  • Hill is a free agent after a horrible injury suffered last season.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Ashley Flynn’s sister, Kayla Keyt, said during her victim statement that her family could not overcome their sense of shock and despair after learning that Flynn betrayed them in such a violent and horrible way.
    — Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC news, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of horrible
Adjective
  • Beyond the ugly-duckling implications and the patent objectification and humiliation of women, the show’s portrayal of plastic surgery itself struck me as dark and sort of sickening.
    — Jolene Edgar, Allure, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Perhaps the most sickening part of the entire encounter is that both Oleynik and Kravchenko are seen holding the turtle's hatchlings, posing for photos and smiling as if everything is cool.
    — Austin Perry OutKick, FOXNews.com, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of sickening
Adjective
  • Alabama has been busily demonstrating that the reverse is true, following a string of hideous botched lethal injection executions with a series of no less gruesome executions with nitrogen suffocation.
    — Maya Foa, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
  • This puzzle is stuffed with nuance, pleasing crosses and a lot of simply terrific, ridiculously evocative stuff — for example, a jarring assortment of lovely trivia intersecting with some hideous ailments at more than one juncture.
    — Caitlin Lovinger, New York Times, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of hideous
Adjective
  • Carla is suffering through a press junket for a new spy movie titled The Milliner with her obnoxious co-star, Jeremy (Aaron Tsindos).
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2026
  • But others have slammed the effort as a pretentious and obnoxious slog.
    — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of obnoxious
Adjective
  • The public must contend head-on with a collapsing currency and runaway inflation, and to ordinary Iranians, describing the present situation as sustainable would sound almost obscene.
    — Ali Vaez, Foreign Affairs, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Current Florida law says a school district can review and remove a book after a complaint has been made that a book is pornographic, obscene or isn’t age appropriate.
    — Ana Goñi-Lessan, Sun Sentinel, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of obscene

Browse Nearby Words

loathings
loathsome
loathsomeness
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Cite this Entry

“Loathsome.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/loathsome. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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