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wayward

[wey-werd]

Example Sentences Origin

adjective

turned or turning away from what is right or proper; willful; disobedient: a wayward son; wayward behavior.

swayed or prompted by caprice; capricious: a wayward impulse; to be wayward in one's affections.

turning or changing irregularly; irregular: a wayward breeze.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English; aphetic variant of awayward. See away, -ward

Related forms

way·ward·ly, adverb

way·ward·ness, noun

un·way·ward, adjective

Synonyms
1. contrary, headstrong, stubborn, obstinate, unruly, refractory, intractable. See willful. 3. unsteady, inconstant, changeable.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Wayward is always a great word to know.

So is zedonk. Does it mean:

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

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Example Sentences

His trial will conclude the story of a beautiful young woman's wayward life.

So, claims about new technology and wayward kids shouldn't be taken too seriously.

The central government claims it can enforce its wishes over wayward local administrations.

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His trial will conclude the story of a beautiful young woman's wayward life.

So, claims about new technology and wayward kids shouldn't be taken too seriously.

The central government claims it can enforce its wishes over wayward local administrations.

Trickles of wayward meteors are visible year-round in any clear night sky.

New research finds adultlike structure in the brains of wayward youths.

And wayward off-roaders are not the only threat to the fossils.

Need little pruning except to remove wayward or dead growth.

Chrisie, a sandhill crane, lost a leg to a wayward golf ball.

Perhaps you have not yet experienced the impact of being on the receiving end of wayward professors.

But there is also much unease about the taxpayer paying billions to take control of wayward businesses.

Kangaroo pockets that sit on a wide self-fabric hem hold the contents of a wayward life.

It sat vacant and boarded up, used only as a home for wayward pigeons.

Wacom also seems to have cracked the problem of the wayward wrist.

For a while, it even became a temporary home to wayward cattle.

He broke off a branch, waved it in the air, then trotted back to his wayward females.

The heli crew also helps locate wayward robots, which emit homing signals from a tracking beacon.

For the first time, the government has forced the departure of a wayward banker.

The courts begin to hold the company liable for all sorts of wayward transactions.

But the younger sons and the flocks of daughters, nieces and cousins were much more wayward.

Gordon compares the coders to angry, wayward adolescents.

These are sticky bits of a wayward protein called beta-amyloid that gum up the spaces between nerve cells.

Still, there's an intrepid holiness to his prose that redeems his wayward sensibility.

And the bill makes it easier for shareholders to sue wayward directors.

All eyes are on the screen where an old mother is pleading with her wayward son to mend his ways.

Parliament has amended the autonomy law in an attempt to bring wayward regents and mayors under control.

The wayward young can get into trouble at an early age.

Once underwritten by the euro zone as a whole, wayward countries have no need to tighten their finances and reform themselves.

The government could try to rein in wayward states by seeking a stay on the ruling while an appeal is heard.

Navy to wait another day before launching a heat-seeking missile to destroy a wayward spy satellite.

The apocalyptic threat with the best chance of wiping out humanity is a wayward asteroid, also known as a near-Earth object.

Laimbeer's reputation for wayward elbows and well-placed forearms is unparalleled across the league.

The first wayward profession is higher finance and the second is higher education.

Gravitational tugs, orbital collisions, and interstellar jostles occasionally perturb an asteroid or comet onto a wayward path.

It is defined by a wayward shot at the buzzer and the criticism of his decision to attend his college graduation.

For the story of this wayward gene is the story of modern.

JP created a warm family atmosphere for all his wayward friends.

They lay them elegantly across the chaise longue, tuck them in neatly all around lest a wayward breeze dislodge them.

The researchers came up with four possible explanations for the wayward black hole.

And the only evident result of the total episode is the slaughter of the bandits and the permanent disposal of the wayward wife.

Putin has pledged to bring such wayward regions back under central control.

And a pier protection system to guard the bridge against another wayward ship will not be completed until late next year.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

wayward (ˈweɪwəd)

—*adj*
1.	wanting to have one's own way regardless of the wishes or good of others
2.	capricious, erratic, or unpredictable

[C14: changed from awayward turned or turning away]

'waywardly

—*adv*

'waywardness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

wayward

late 14c. aphetic shortening of aweiward "turned away," from away + -ward.

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Related Words

willful Flanagan froward naughty

naughty perverse prodigal son

Matching Quote

"I seem, in most of these verses, to have but placed a harp in a window, and noted the contrasted airs which wayward winds have played upon the strings."

-Herman Melville

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