wayward

[ wey-werd ]

adjective

1. turned or turning away from what is right or proper; willful; disobedient:

   a wayward son; wayward behavior.

   Synonyms: intractable, refractory, unruly, obstinate, stubborn, headstrong, contrary

2. swayed or prompted by caprice; capricious:

   a wayward impulse; to be wayward in one's affections.

3. turning or changing irregularly; irregular:

   a wayward breeze.

   Synonyms: changeable, inconstant, unsteady

wayward

/ ˈweɪwəd /

adjective

1. wanting to have one's own way regardless of the wishes or good of others
2. capricious, erratic, or unpredictable

Derived Forms

• ˈwaywardness, noun
• ˈwaywardly, adverb

Other Words From

• wayward·ly adverb
• wayward·ness noun
• un·wayward adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of wayward¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; aphetic variant of awayward. See away, -ward

Word History and Origins

Origin of wayward¹

C14: changed from awayward turned or turning away

Synonym Study

See willful.

Example Sentences

Finau won that event Monday on the first playoff hole when Cameron Smith was undone by a wayward drive.

From Washington Post

For a start, they only detected errors and didn’t actually test out the process for correcting wayward qubits.

From Singularity Hub 

In the future, the astronomers hope to understand how these wayward worlds acquired their odd orbits.

From Science News

I do not wish to be put through any wayward maneuvering, and I am certainly not interested in a romantic relationship with you.

From Washington Post

Still, Suggs would be a dream addition for a wayward franchise that hasn’t won a playoff series since 2004 and has struggled to develop a young core in recent years.

From Washington Post

It was an intimate and somber plea, like a parent opening an intervention with a wayward child.

From The Daily Beast

How about the man who created her—a lover of women who lived with a wife, his lover, their children, and a wayward librarian?

From The Daily Beast

The story of a wayward anesthesia trainee who took a near fatal dose of fentanyl hit the news this week.

From The Daily Beast

Not to worry, Bob, those wayward thoughts are portals of discovery for an interviewer.

From The Daily Beast

A regal few were spiritual counselors, like Weberman, bringing wayward kids and teens back from the brink of ruined lives.

From The Daily Beast

But agitation unlocks wayward fancies and sends them scurrying inopportunely across the very foreground of the mind.

From Project Gutenberg

Mariamne had grown more fantastic, and capricious, and wayward than ever.

From Project Gutenberg

A large stone set in a secure place surely is a better boundary than a wayward stream whose course is changed by every freshet.

From Project Gutenberg

Observe the wayward boy whose chief inheritance is a wild, wilful nature.

From Project Gutenberg

From this companionship a group of wayward children may be formed.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• capricious
• delinquent
• errant
• erratic
• headstrong
• rebellious
• recalcitrant
• unruly