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• froward
  froward

  adjective

  willfully contrary; not easily managed.
• Froward
  Froward

  noun

  Cape, a cape in S Chile, on the Strait of Magellan: southernmost point of mainland South America.

froward

¹ American  

[froh-werd, froh-erd] / ˈfroʊ wərd, ˈfroʊ ərd /

adjective

1. willfully contrary; not easily managed.

   to be worried about one's froward, intractable child.

   Synonyms:

   difficult, unmanageable, wayward, fractious, disobedient, willful, obstinate

   Antonyms:

   tractable, docile

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Froward ² American  

[froh-werd, froh-erd] / ˈfroʊ wərd, ˈfroʊ ərd /

noun

1. Cape, a cape in S Chile, on the Strait of Magellan: southernmost point of mainland South America.

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froward British  

/ ˈfrəʊəd /

adjective

1. archaic obstinate; contrary

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Other Word Forms

• frowardness
  noun
• unfroward
  adjective
• frowardly
  adverb
• unfrowardly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of froward

First recorded in 1150–1200, froward is from the Middle English word froward, fraward. See fro, -ward

Explanation

Froward means willful and disobedient. If your dog sits when you call her to come and runs away when you tell her to sit, you can say she's froward. The adverb froward is an old-fashioned way to describe someone who's difficult and ornery. It's a lot more fun to babysit agreeable kids than froward ones. New teachers have nightmares about classes full of froward students and are relieved to find pleasant and polite ones on the first day of school. The Old English root of froward is frāward, "turning away from," or the opposite of toward.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

froward Froward

Two of them — 6-2 froward Autumn Newby from Baylor and 5-6 guard Alexis Morris from Texas A&M — are starters.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 2022

“Before we were stepping froward, now we’re stepping back,” a supporter named Katherine King told me.

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 9, 2016

He changed Poseidon, Girdler of the Earth, to Earthshaker Poseidon, called the Cyclops "Goggle-eyes" instead of "froward," transformed the "fair-tressed Dawn" into "welcome streaks of light."

From Time Magazine Archive

"What a froward, drivelling flibbergib have I taken to my bosom!"

From Time Magazine Archive

I remembered that Goethe once spoke to me of the 'Sentimental Journey,' and said that it was impossible for any one better to paint what a froward and perverse thing is the human heart.

From Letters of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy from Italy and Switzerland by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

Often forgetful, Love may forget; Froward and fretful, Dear, he will fret; Ever regretful, He will regret.

From One Day & Another A Lyrical Eclogue by Julius Madison Cawein

I had often told my father that I could never marry Lady Clara Froward, for that I was attached to another lady, and only wished for his consent to marry her.

From Forgotten Tales of Long Ago by F. D. Bedford

It is also common in the Strait of Magalhaens, in all those parts west of Cape Froward; but there, from the poverty of the soil, it is of very stunted growth.

From Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle, between the years 1826 and 1836 Volume I. - Proceedings of the First Expedition, 1826-1830 by Robert Fitzroy

Soon after passing Port Famine we saw the bold outline of Cape Froward, the southernmost point of South America, stretching into the Straits.

From A Voyage in the 'Sunbeam' Our Home on the Ocean for Eleven Months by Annie Brassey

Next day they doubled Cape Froward, with some danger, on account of bad anchorage and contrary winds.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 10 Arranged in systematic order: Forming a complete history of the origin and progress of navigation, discovery, and commerce, by sea and land, from the earliest ages to the present time. by Robert Kerr