thwart
UK /θwɔːt/ · US /θwɔɹt/ adjective, adverb, preposition, verb, noun
Forms thwarts thwarting thwarted thwartest thwartedst thwarteth
- adjective Placed or situated across something else; cross, oblique, transverse.
- adjective (figuratively, dated) Of people: having a tendency to oppose; obstinate, perverse, stubborn.
- adjective (figuratively, dated) Of situations or things: adverse, unfavourable, unlucky.
- adverb (obsolete) Across the direction of travel or length of; athwart, crosswise, obliquely, transversely.
- preposition (archaic or poetic) Across, athwart.
- verb (transitive) To cause to fail; to frustrate, to prevent. “Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the thunderstorm.”
- verb (transitive, obsolete) To place (something) across (another thing); to position crosswise.
- verb (transitive, also figuratively, obsolete) To hinder or obstruct by placing (something) in the way of; to block, to impede, to oppose.
- verb (ambitransitive, obsolete) To move (something) across or counter to; to cross. “An arrow thwarts the air.”
- noun (nautical) A seat across a boat on which a rower may sit. “The fisherman sat on the aft thwart to row.”
- noun (nautical) A brace, perpendicular to the keel, that helps maintain the beam (“breadth”) of a marine vessel against external water pressure and that may serve to support the rail. “A well-made dugout canoe rarely needs a thwart.”
- noun (rare) An act of thwarting; something which thwarts; a hindrance, an obstacle.
Synonyms
cross-grained froward adamant ardent grim untiring bent on bloody-minded bullheaded certain chronic confirmed determined diehard dogged hard-hearted hard-nosed hardheaded headstrong immovable cross thwart queer spoil scotch foil cross frustrate baffle bilk
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English thwerte, from the adjective thwert (“obstinate, perverse”), from Old Norse þvert, neuter of þverr (“transverse”).
The English adjective is cognate with Danish tvær (“sullen, sulky”), Gothic 𐌸𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷𐍃 (þwairhs, “angry”), Middle Dutch dwers, dwars (modern Dutch dwars (“crosswise, transverse; slantwise, askew; stubbornly disobedient”)), Norwegian tvert, tvært, Old Frisian þweres, dwers (Saterland Frisian twars, West Frisian dwers, dwerz (“across, to the other side of; beyond”)), Middle Low German dwers, dwars (Low German dwars (“contrary; cross-grained”)), Old English þweorh (“transverse; perverse; angry, cross”), Old High German twer (Middle High German twer, quer, modern German quer (“crosswise; cross”)), Swedish tvär (“across, transverse; of a curve: sharp; immediate, sudden; grumpy, stubborn”). It is related to queer; also Proto-West Germanic *þwerh,
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Situated or placed across something else; transverse; oblique.
- adjective Fig.: Perverse; crossgrained. [Obs.] Shak.
- adverb Thwartly; obliquely; transversely; athwart. [Obs.] Milton.
- preposition Across; athwart. Spenser. Thwart ships. See Athwart ships, under Athwart.
Etymology [OE. , , a. and adv., Icel. , neut. of athwart, transverse, across; akin to AS. perverse, transverse, cross, D. dwars, OHG. dwerah, twerh, G. zwerch, quer, Dan. & Sw. tver athwart, transverse, Sw. tvär cross, unfriendly, Goth. angry. Cf. Queer.]
Etymology [See Thwart, a.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “thwart”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details