untoward
Americanadjective
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unfavorable or unfortunate.
Untoward circumstances forced him into bankruptcy.
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improper.
untoward social behavior.
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Archaic. froward; perverse.
adjective
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characterized by misfortune, disaster, or annoyance
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not auspicious; adverse; unfavourable
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unseemly or improper
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out of the ordinary; out of the way
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archaic refractory; perverse
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obsolete awkward, ungainly, or uncouth
Other Word Forms
- untowardly adverb
- untowardness noun
Etymology
Origin of untoward
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He has two working parents with education and access to all the information in the world and nothing that untoward might happen to his individual children.
From BBC
There is no suggestion there is anything untoward, and the deals have all been carried out within the rules.
From BBC
“I assure you both that there was nothing untoward. I take full responsibility for any tarnish to your son’s purity.”
From Literature
Is she doing something untoward with his money?
From MarketWatch
“There were times during those days that we did not make it to school due to inclement weather or some other untoward event,” she wrote in a biographical post on the McAdoo Center website.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
