untoward
[uhn-tawrd, -tohrd]
adjective
unfavorable or unfortunate: Untoward circumstances forced him into bankruptcy.
improper: untoward social behavior.
Archaic. froward; perverse.
Origin of untoward
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for untoward
unmanageable, adverse, perverse, unfortunate, disturbing, unbecoming, unseemly, inappropriate, annoying, awkward, contrary, disastrous, fractious, hapless, inauspicious, inconvenient, inimical, inopportune, intractable, irritatingExamples from the Web for untoward
Contemporary Examples of untoward
I try not to think about the cold years ahead, when time will slowly poach my youth and my body will begin its untoward changes.
The Modern ‘Lolita’: Dramatizing the Mind of a Female Pedophile in Alissa Nutting’s ‘Tampa’Roxane Gay
June 28, 2013
Any objectionable remark, any untoward joke, any awkward facial expression may be recorded and broadcast.
Historical Examples of untoward
He would not have been a Briton if these untoward combinations of events had not made him surly.
Hetty's Strange HistoryAnonymous
It would take only an untoward word, a false movement, to start a massacre.
Slaves of MercuryNat Schachner
He thought not at all of the untoward fortune that had placed him where he stood.
The Shadow of a CrimeHall Caine
Had she been commissioned to tell him of some untoward event?
We TwoEdna Lyall
Truly it is untoward, but I wish, my dear aunt, you would not let it trouble you so much.
Fairy FingersAnna Cora Mowatt Ritchie
untoward
adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper