Word.ws English Dictionary

witherward

/ˈwɪðə(ɹ)wə(ɹ)d/

witherward adjective: adverse, contrary.

Adjective

witherward (comparative more witherward, superlative most witherward)

  1. Adverse, contrary.
    • Such a witherward and rotten friend she was.
  2. Opposite, opposing; hostile.
    • […] then appeared to me along the way by which I formerly came amid the darkness, as it were the brightness of a shining star, and the light was waxing more and more, and quickly hastening to me, and as soon as it came nigh me, then were scattered and away fled all the witherward ghosts, which...1852, The whole works of King Alfred the Great
    • at the witherward side of the year

Adverb

witherward (comparative more witherward, superlative most witherward)

  1. Contrary to, against.

Noun

witherward (uncountable)

  1. Opposite; adversity, opposition; hostility
    • Nor, although be sung the "mighty stream of tendency" of this wondrous age, did he ever launch his poetic craft upon it, nor seem to see the witherward of its swift and awful stress.1850, Henry Mills Alden, Harper's new monthly magazine: Volume 1, Issues 1-6
    • Nevertheless, he cannot be seriously opposed to scientific research as distinguished from technical research for the next four chapters deal with such theoretical subjects as "the question of the atom," "the witherward of matter," "the chemical interpretation of life" and "the beginning of things."1912, American Chemical Society, Journal of the American Chemical Society: Volume 34, Issues 1-6

Forms of witherward

Adjective
comparativemore witherward
superlativemost witherward
Adverb
comparativemore witherward
superlativemost witherward

Origin of witherward

From Middle English witherward, from Old English wiþerweard (“contrary, adverse, hostile”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiþraward, from Proto-Germanic *wiþrawardaz (“contrary, adverse, in opposition”); equivalent to wither (“against”) + -ward. Cognate with Old High German widarwart (“witherward”), German widerwärtig (“adverse, repulsive”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌸𐍂𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐍃 (wiþrawairþs, “witherward”).

Questions about witherward

What does witherward mean?
Witherward means adverse, contrary.
What part of speech is witherward?
Witherward can be an adjective, an adverb or a noun.
How do you pronounce witherward?
Witherward is pronounced /ˈwɪðə(ɹ)wə(ɹ)d/.

Words near witherward in the dictionary

  1. Witherspoon
  2. Witherspoon-excludable
  3. Witherspoon-excludables
  4. Witherspoons
  5. withertip
  6. witherward
  7. witherweight
  8. witherweights
  9. witherwin
  10. witherwins
  11. witherwise

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: witherward (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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