thwart
Americanverb (used with object)
-
thwarts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
thwarted,
past participle, past
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thwarting
present participle
noun
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thwarts
plural
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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.
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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
Synonym Usage
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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thwartsimple
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thwartssimple
-
have thwartedperfect
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has thwartedperfect
-
am thwartingprogressive
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are thwartingprogressive
-
is thwartingprogressive
-
have been thwartingperfect progressive
-
has been thwartingperfect progressive
Past
-
thwartedsimple
-
had thwartedperfect
-
was thwartingprogressive
-
were thwartingprogressive
-
had been thwartingperfect progressive
Future
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”
Explanation
A villain's worst nightmare is the superhero who always seems to thwart his efforts, preventing him from carrying out his plans to take over the world. Thwart is a word you'll hear in a lot of action movies, and usually it's the hero who is trying to thwart the evil plan of some super-villain. Yet even mere mortals can be thwarted in their efforts; the word simply means to prevent someone from carrying out his or her plans. An aggressive driver can thwart your attempt to snag a parking space at a crowded mall by pulling into the space before you. An aggressive shopper at that same mall can thwart your efforts to buy the last Dancing Snoopy doll by grabbing it off the shelf first.
Vocabulary lists containing thwart
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Animal Farm
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Romeo and Juliet
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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.
See Examples For:
"Security forces are operating in the Qalandia camp area in order to thwart terror and apprehend wanted individuals," a military official told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
But the administration has taken a variety of steps to thwart Congress’ directives.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026
Defense contractors have outfitted strike weapons and interceptors with layers of sophisticated electronics to hit targets and thwart enemy countermeasures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
The 5th Circuit is still trying to thwart its goal.
From Slate ● Jun. 12, 2026
Woolf then had to resort to dirty riding to thwart Richardson.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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 ● Dec. 30, 2025
It brings to mind this concept of malicious compliance, where you’re technically doing what you’re supposed to, but in a way that actually thwarts the goals of the powers that be.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2025
And then, tensions stretched to the breaking point, the book thwarts all expectations, leaving behind a feeling of lingering unease.
From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2023
“The Challenge” injects randomness and chaos into the mix that thwarts the most studious strategists, mainly by throwing people for a loop by changing up certain games and tossing psychological tests into its pressure cooker.
From Salon ● Nov. 28, 2023
I'm hoping for hours of uninterrupted romantic political discussion, but Didu thwarts that plan.
From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins
She recruited more women, eliminated a previous gender pay gap and proposed daycare centers at the company’s main sites—an idea thwarted by security concerns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Horror fans waiting for jump scares will be thwarted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Lucie Green went all the way to Antarctica in 2021, only to be thwarted by that common enemy of eclipse chasers: clouds.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
But Archer thwarted their plan, as Brook turned back to his strike bowler to make an impact with the game in the balance.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
He could not believe that he was this close, and was going to be thwarted by Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
By midweek, Dubai was getting back to work, with the city’s trademark heavy traffic back in full swing, complicated by GPS jamming aimed at thwarting drone attacks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
Treasury yields snapped higher Tuesday, breaking a six-week trading range and thwarting the bond market’s traditional role as a haven in times of stock market volatility.
From Barron's ● Jan. 20, 2026
Regional power Nigeria assisted in thwarting the mutiny, saying its fighter jets had helped "dislodge the coup plotters from the National TV and a military camp" following a request from Benin's government.
From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2025
Those experiments showed they could turn unresponsive cancers into responsive ones, thwarting tumor growth.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2025
You have aided in thwarting me; now you shall come to my call.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
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.
