Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Stubbornly contrary and disobedient; obstinate.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Turned away; turned from: opposed to facing.
- Perversely inclined; wilful; refractory; disobedient; petulant; peevish.
- Marked by or manifesting perverse feeling; ill-natured; ungracious; caustic.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Not willing to yield or compIy with what is required or is reasonable; perverse; disobedient; peevish.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective archaic
Disobedient ,contrary ,unmanageable ; difficult to deal with; with an evildisposition . - preposition obsolete Away from.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective habitually disposed to disobedience and opposition
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Thou art wise to go to the hotel, and froward is the man that avoideth it.
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He taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong (Ps 2: 4; Job 5: 12, 13).
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32 For the froward is abomination to the Lord: but his secret is with the righteous.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon) 1721
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13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon) 1721
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It then occurred to him that the sight of this ragged crone, and the chronicle of her woes, might be an excellent medicine for his "froward," ungrateful wife, and teach her to know when she was well off; and after speaking in confidence with the old woman, he bade him who recounts the adventure escort her into the lady's presence.
A Handbook to the Works of Browning (6th ed.) Sutherland Orr 1865
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To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
Archive 2009-03-01 2009
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Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
Archive 2009-03-01 2009
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Humanity moved froward and into the 21st century and you remain focused and firmly stuck in the 19th and fixated on this conflict it seems.
Virginia governor declares April as Confederate History Month 2010
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To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
Seek Her As Silver 2009
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Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
Seek Her As Silver 2009
minerva commented on the word froward
You don't know how many times I thought this was a typo for forward...
November 29, 2007
reesetee commented on the word froward
I haven't heard this word spoken in ages, and then this morning there it was, in my audiobook. :-)
November 29, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word froward
I love this word.
November 29, 2007
reesetee commented on the word froward
Oh, don't be so froward, chained_bear. ;-)
November 29, 2007
yarb commented on the word froward
Yes, this is a beaut. I'm going to start using this with my family as an admonishment.
November 30, 2007
bilby commented on the word froward
Gaze no more on that killing eye,
For fear the native cruelty
Doom you, as it doth all, to die :
For fear lest the fair object move
Your froward heart to fall in love :
Then you yourself my rival prove.
- Thomas Carew, 'A Looking-Glass'.
July 28, 2009
AnWulf commented on the word froward
froward - (of a person) difficult to deal with; contrary.
frowardly - adverb,
frowardness - noun
November 14, 2011
rolig commented on the word froward
Compare the word untoward, which has a similar, though not identical, meaning ("inappropriate, unacceptable, etc.). Surely, the words must be derived from to and fro (which I guess meant originally "toward and away from").
November 14, 2011
qms commented on the word froward
See comments at tetric.
May 15, 2017
bilby commented on the word froward
Synonym froppish.
October 9, 2021