untoward
UK/ˌʌn.tʊˈwɔːd/US/ˌʌn.təˈwɔɹd/
untoward adjective: unfavourable, adverse, or disadvantageous.
Adjective
untoward (comparative more untoward, superlative most untoward)
- Unfavourable, adverse, or disadvantageous.
- But as soon as her son espied her, bowl in hand, he thought that haply something untoward had befallen her, but he would not ask of aught until such time as she had set down the bowl, when she acquainted him with that which had occurred[…]1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […]...
- Honest men for the most part, but men with whom the world had dealt hardly; the failures of all countries, men sobered by toil and saddened by exile, who had been driven to fight for the dominion of an untoward soil, to sow where others should gather, the advance-guard of a mighty civilization to...1900, Willa Cather, “Eric Hermannson's Soul”, in Cosmopolitan, 28:633 (April)
- Synonyms:
- adverse, disadvantageous, inconvenient, unfavorable, unfortunate
- Unruly, troublesome; not easily guided.
- Synonyms:
- difficult, fractious, stubborn, troublesome, uncontrollable, unruly
- Unseemly, improper.
- She could hardly have made a more untoward choice.1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter I, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, pages 2–3
- The managing director was very depressed at the news, but realized that trying to prove anything untoward had taken place would be very difficult.2005, John Martin, Organizational Behaviour and Management, →ISBN, page 518
untoward meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam and Kannada
untoward in Tamil
- விரும்பத்தகாத
untoward in Marathi
- unruly, troublesome
- अनिष्ट aniṣṭa
- unseemly, improper
- अनिष्ट aniṣṭa
untoward in Malayalam
- പ്രതികൂല, ശാഠ്യമുള്ള, വിലക്ഷണമായ
untoward in Kannada
- ಹದುಳವಿಲ್ಲದ, ತಕ್ಕುದಲ್ಲದ, ತೊಂದರೆಯ, ಸಯ್ಪುಗೆಟ್ಟ, ದುರದೃಷ್ಟಕರ, ಅಹಿತಕರ
More languagesFewer languages
- untoward in Persian
- نامساعد nâmosâ'ed, فریرون farirun
Examples of untoward in a sentence
- At Tebay however, he began to get the mastery over these untoward conditions, and actually got back a little time up to Shap, after which all was plain sailing.1941 November, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 484:
- No untoward effects were reported; however, this was not a blinded or controlled study.2004, Jan Riordan, chapter 5, in Breastfeeding and Human Lactation, →ISBN, page 149:
- “I have a suspicion that someone is trying to recategorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward,” Gaetz said.2021 April 8, Gail Collins, quoting Matt Gaetz, “Here’s … Matt Gaetz”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
Synonyms of untoward
Forms of untoward
| comparative | more untoward |
|---|---|
| superlative | most untoward |
Origin of untoward
From un- + toward (“to + -ward”).
Words formed from untoward
Words that rhyme with untoward
40 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- umbilical cord
- afford
- ord
- reward
- sward
- toward
- hoard
- -lord
- abhorred
- bored
- destination board
- disaccord
- greatsword
- horde
- onboard
- smorgasbord
- unoared
- adored
- bell chord
- beward
- chored
- concord
- deboard
- discord
- fjord
- gord
- gored
- guide board
- hoared
- ignored
- m'lord
- milord
- moored
- oared
- of one's own accord
- outward
- restored
- secured
- sord
- whored
Questions about untoward
- What does untoward mean?
- Untoward means unfavourable, adverse, or disadvantageous.
- What is untoward in Tamil?
- Untoward in Tamil is விரும்பத்தகாத. See Untoward meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use untoward in a sentence?
- At Tebay however, he began to get the mastery over these untoward conditions, and actually got back a little time up to Shap, after which all was plain sailing.
- What part of speech is untoward?
- Untoward is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce untoward?
- Untoward is pronounced /ˌʌn.tʊˈwɔːd/ (UK).
Words near untoward in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: untoward (page history and authors); untoward (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); untoward (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); untoward (Kannada 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-untoward.ogg.
Cite this entry: “untoward.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/untoward. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.