English

Adjective

froward ‎(comparative more froward, superlative most froward)

1. (archaic) Disobedient, contrary, unmanageable; difficult to deal with; with an evil disposition.
   • 1592, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew:

     Her onely fault, and that is faults enough, / Is, that she is intollerable curst, / And shrow'd, and froward, so beyond all measure, / That were my state farre worser then it is, / I would not wed her for a mine of Gold.

   • 1611, Bible (KJV), Proverbs 21:8:

     The way of man is froward and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right.

   • 1826, George Crabb

     A froward child becomes an untoward youth, who turns a deaf ear to all the admonitions of an afflicted parent.

   • 2007, Peter Marshall, Mother Leakey and the Bishop: A Ghost Story, Oxford Univ. Press, ISBN 9780199273713:

     … which so incensed this old hag that she grew as froward and sullen as the doctor, …

   • 1954, J. R. R. Tolkien, "The Two Towers":

     'I owe much to Eomer,' said Theoden. 'Faithful heart may have froward tongue.'

   • c2009, Mary Sidney, “Froward Women”, in Mary Sidney, retrieved 2012-08-31:

     However, it does make one wonder — if William Shakespeare were the creator of all these froward, literate, and often powerful women, why did he let his own daughters grow up illiterate?

   • 2012 June 9, Christine, “Forward or Froward”, in Talk Wisdom, retrieved 2012-08-31:

     … the Communist/Marxist/Progressive/Globalist meaning of the term "Forward" can more accurately be labeled as Froward. … campaign slogan choice would better resemble the term "Froward" rather than the term "Forward."

Synonyms

• untoward

Derived terms

• enfroward

Translations

Preposition

froward

1. (obsolete) Away from.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, Bk.XIII, Ch.xvij:

     Whan Sir Galahad herde hir sey so, he was adrad to be knowyn; and therewith he smote hys horse with his sporys and rode a grete pace froward them.

Anagrams

• forward