thwart
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
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a seat across a boat, especially one used by a rower.
-
a transverse member spreading the gunwales of a canoe or the like.
adjective
-
passing or lying crosswise or across; cross; transverse.
-
perverse; obstinate.
-
adverse; unfavorable.
preposition
verb
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to oppose successfully or prevent; frustrate
they thwarted the plan
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obsolete to be or move across
noun
adjective
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passing or being situated across
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archaic perverse or stubborn
preposition
Related Words
Thwart, frustrate, baffle imply preventing one, more or less completely, from accomplishing a purpose. Thwart and frustrate apply to purposes, actions, plans, etc., baffle, to the psychological state of the person thwarted. Thwart suggests stopping one by opposing, blocking, or in some way running counter to one's efforts. Frustrate implies rendering all attempts or efforts useless or ineffectual, so that nothing ever comes of them. Baffle suggests causing defeat by confusing, puzzling, or perplexing, so that a situation seems too hard a problem to understand or solve.
Other Word Forms
- thwartedly adverb
- thwarter noun
- unthwarted adjective
- unthwarting adjective
Etymology
Origin of thwart
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English thwert (adverb), from Old Norse thvert “across,” neuter of thverr “transverse”; cognate with Old English thweorh “crooked, cross,” Gothic thwairhs “cross, angry”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Yoon became South Korea's first sitting president to be taken into custody when he was detained in January last year after resisting arrest for weeks, using his presidential security detail to thwart law enforcement.
From Barron's
The long consignment to the wilderness thwarts “preservation, access, education, creative reuse, scholarship, etc., when most of the works are out of circulation and not benefiting any rights holders.”
From Los Angeles Times
Their plans were laid bare through their communication with Farouk and, as a result, the police were able to thwart them.
From BBC
He suggests that the magazine’s poems have “represented the country’s wildly divergent visions of a good life—and railed against thwarted hopes for it.”
As a result, better ideas never see the light of day; product defects are covered up; unethical practices continue unchecked; deals are thwarted.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
