More Than 700 Years Ago, English Speakers Began Using the Wordtowardfor Forward-Moving

untoward

adjective | un-TOH-erd

Definition

1 : difficult to guide, manage, or work with : unruly , intractable

2 a : marked by trouble or unhappiness : unlucky

b : not favorable or propitious : adverse

3 : improper , indecorous

Did You Know?

More than 700 years ago, English speakers began using the word toward for "forward-moving" youngsters, the kind who showed promise and were open to listening to their elders. After about 150 years, the use was broadened somewhat to mean simply "docile" or "obliging." The opposite of this toward is froward , meaning "perverse" or "ungovernable." Today, froward has fallen out of common use, and the cooperative sense of toward is downright obsolete, but the newcomer to this series—untoward—has kept its toehold. Untoward first showed up as a synonym of unruly in the 1500s, and it is still used, just as it was then, though it has since acquired other meanings as well.