Word of the Day
: October 21, 2021untoward
playWhat It Means
Untoward means "unruly, unfavorable, or improper."
// The rules specify that untoward behavior will not be tolerated.
untoward in Context
"At 82, Judy Collins retains the crystalline tone that made her an icon of the early 1960s folk music movement, sounding so youthful … it's hard not to ask her whether she's made an untoward bargain with the devil." — Andrew Gilbert, The San Francisco Chronicle, 17 Sept. 2021
Did You Know?
For centuries, toward was used for "forward-moving" youngsters, the kind who showed promise and were open to listening to their elders. The adjective then came to mean "obliging." The opposite of this toward is froward, meaning "disobedient." Froward has fallen out of common use, and the cooperative sense of toward is obsolete, but untoward is still moving forward.
More Words of the Day
-
Apr 20
gingerly
-
Apr 19
underwhelm
-
Apr 18
qua
-
Apr 17
circumlocution
-
Apr 16
inalienable
-
Apr 15
purloin