Word.ws English Dictionary

athwart

/əˈθwɔːt/US/əˈθwɔɹt/

athwart adverb: from side to side, often in an oblique manner; across or over.

Adverb

athwart (comparative more athwart, superlative most athwart)

  1. From side to side, often in an oblique manner; across or over.
    • Above, the stars appeared to move slowly athwart.
    • We placed one log on the ground, and another athwart, forming a crude cross.
  2. Across the path of something, so as to impede progress.
    • a fleet standing athwart our course
    • [W]ith his ſpear / Advanced athvvart puſh'd back the Trojan van, / And all ſtood faſt.1791, Homer, “[The Iliad.] Book III.”, in W[illiam] Cowper, transl., The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 69...
  3. (figuratively) Against the anticipated or appropriate course of something; improperly, perversely, wrongly.
    • [A]ll athvvart there came / A poſt from VVales, loden vvith heauy nevves, […]c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]
    • The Baby beates the Nurſe, and quite athvvart / Goes all decorum.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    Synonyms:
    awry, crosswise

Preposition

athwart

  1. From one side to the other side of; across.
    • The stars moved slowly athwart the sky.
    • Knit vvith a golden bauldricke, vvhich forelay / Athvvart her ſnovvy breſt, and did diuide / Her daintie paps; […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 29, page 226
    Synonyms:
    overthwart
  2. Across the course or path of, so as to meet; hence (figuratively), to the attention of.
    • For here our ſouls hath but one eye (the Apoſtle ſaith, vve knovv in part) be not proud if that chance to come athvvart thy ſeeing ſide, vvhich meets with the blind ſide of another.1642, Thomas Fuller, “The True Church Antiquary”, in The Holy State, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel for John Williams, […], →OCLC, book II, paragraph 5, page 71
    • O Years! the blest preeminence of Saints! / Ye sweep athwart my gaze, so heavenly-bright, […]1794 December 24 (date written), S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Religious Musings. A Desultory Poem, Written on the Christmas Eve of 1794.”, in Poems, […], 2nd edition, London: […] N. Briggs, for...
  3. Across the course or path of, so as to oppose.
    • VVhence and vvhat art thou, execrable ſhape, / That dar'ſt, though grim and terrible, advance / Thy miſcreated Front athvvart my vvay / To yonder Gates?1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
    • Lookée, you lubberly ſon of a vv——e, if you come athvvart me, 'vvare your ginger-bread-vvork.1748, [Tobias Smollett], chapter III, in The Adventures of Roderick Random. […], volume I, London: […] [William Strahan] for J[ohn] Osborn […], →OCLC, page 14
  4. (figuratively) Across; through.
    • And novv, athvvart the Terrors that thy Vovv / Has planted round thee, thou appear'ſt more fair, / More amiable, and riſeſt in thy Charms.1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act III, scene i, page 37
    • About three in the Afternoon he came up vvith us, and bringing too by Miſtake, juſt athvvart our Quarter, inſtead of athvvart our Stern, as he intended, vve brought 8 of our Guns to bear on that Side, and pour'd in a Broadſide upon him, vvhich made him ſheer off again, after returning our Fire, and...1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 19
  5. (figuratively) Opposed to.
    • I have ſeen this preſent vvork, and finde nothing athvvart the Catholick faith and good manners: […]1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 8
    • [S]he, athwart many impediments, An ardent rider, often on horseback, at paces furiously swift; her beautiful face tanned by the weather. Very devout too; honest to be bone, athwart all her prejudices.1862, Thomas Carlyle, “Carnival Phenomena in War-time”, in History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book XIV, pages 645–646
  6. Across the line of a ship's course, or across its deck.
    • The damaged mainmast fell athwart the deck, destroying the ship’s boat.
    • [H]e [a boat] come right athwart the steamer's bows and she cut him in two.1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, “The Same Respected Friend in More Aspects than One”, in Our Mutual Friend. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, →OCLC, 3rd book...

athwart meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Sanskrit and Arabic

athwart in Tamil

பக்கம் நோக்கி, குழம்பி, ஒருசாய்வாய், ஏறமாறாக, தவறி

athwart in Urdu

آڑی, بینڈا

athwart in Sanskrit

from side to side, often in an oblique manner — see also across
जिह्म jihma

athwart in Arabic

from one side to the other side of — see also across
بِعَرْض biʕarḍ

Examples of athwart in a sentence

  • They come, they crowd upon me all at once— / Moved from the cloud of unforgotten things, / That sometimes on the horizon of the mind / Lies unfolded, often sweeps athwart in storm— […]1827–1879 (date written), Alfred Tennyson, “Part I”, in The Lover’s Tale, London: C[harles] Kegan Paul & Co., […], published 1879, →OCLC...
  • Just as the first ray of the rising sun shot like a golden arrow athwart this storied desolation we gained the further gateway of the outer wall, […]1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “Walking the Plank”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co....
  • He shuffled athwart, keeping one eye ahead vigilantly.1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The...
  • This, too, is the genius of conservative legal reasoning: It can stand athwart history yelling breathlessly about original meaning, then sprint blindly toward the nearest convenient exception.2026 July 1, Jack Loftus, “The US Constitution Is for Simple Folk Still Burdened by the Belief That Words Have Meaning”, in Timothy...

All 16 example sentences with athwart

Synonyms of athwart

Forms of athwart

comparativemore athwart
superlativemost athwart

Origin of athwart

From Late Middle English athwert, athirt, from a- (prefix meaning ‘in the direction of, toward’) + thwert (“crosswise; (cooking) across the grain”, adverb). Thwert is derived from thwert (“crosswise, transverse; counter, opposing; contrary, obstinate, stubborn”, adjective), borrowed from Old Norse þvert (“across, athwart”), originally the neuter form of þverr (“across, transverse”), from Proto-Germanic *þwerhaz (“cross; adverse”) (altered or influenced by Proto-Germanic *þweraną (“to stir; to swirl; to turn”)), from Proto-Germanic *þerh-, probably from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to spin; to turn”). The English word is analysable as a- (prefix meaning ‘in the direction of, toward’) + thwart (“placed or situated across something else”). Cognates * Scots athort (“athwart”)

Words formed from athwart

Words that rhyme with athwart

44 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about athwart

What does athwart mean?
Athwart means from side to side, often in an oblique manner; across or over.
What is athwart in Tamil?
Athwart in Tamil is பக்கம் நோக்கி, குழம்பி, ஒருசாய்வாய். See Athwart meaning in Tamil.
How do you use athwart in a sentence?
They come, they crowd upon me all at once— / Moved from the cloud of unforgotten things, / That sometimes on the horizon of the mind / Lies unfolded, often sweeps athwart in storm— […]
What part of speech is athwart?
Athwart can be an adverb or a preposition.
How do you pronounce athwart?
Athwart is pronounced /əˈθwɔːt/ (UK).

Words near athwart in the dictionary

  1. athrombia
  2. athrong
  3. ATHs
  4. Athulivarufinolhu
  5. Athurugau
  6. athwart
  7. athwartship
  8. athwartships
  9. athwartwise
  10. Athy
  11. athymhormia

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: athwart (page history and authors); athwart (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); athwart (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “athwart.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/athwart. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.