Untoward Meaning
/ˌʌn.tʊˈwɔːd/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjUnfavourable, adverse, or disadvantageous.
adjUnruly, troublesome; not easily guided.
Sentence Examples
The congressman has been in the spotlight ever since his untoward remarks about African Americans.
Tom swore that he wasn't involved in anything untoward.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The airport security team carefully checked every bag to prevent any ____ incidents from occurring.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The police confirmed that nothing ____ had happened during the night and that the area remained safe for everyone today.
Word Origin & History
From un- + toward (“to + -ward”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"But as soon as her son espied her, bowl in hand, he thought that haply something untoward had befallen her, but he would not ask of aught until such time as she had set down the bowl, when she acquainted him with that which had occurred[…]"
— 1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC:
"Honest men for the most part, but men with whom the world had dealt hardly; the failures of all countries, men sobered by toil and saddened by exile, who had been driven to fight for the dominion of an untoward soil, to sow where others should gather, the advance-guard of a mighty civilization to be."
— 1900, Willa Cather, “Eric Hermannson's Soul”, in Cosmopolitan, 28:633 (April):
"At Tebay however, he began to get the mastery over these untoward conditions, and actually got back a little time up to Shap, after which all was plain sailing."
— 1941 November, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 484:
"No untoward effects were reported; however, this was not a blinded or controlled study."
— 2004, Jan Riordan, chapter 5, in Breastfeeding and Human Lactation, →ISBN, page 149:
"However, these guidelines may not be applicable to all individuals with refractory epilepsy, in whom seizure control is not achieved without using polytherapy or resection surgery with their untoward side effects."
— 2007, Steven C. Schachter et al., chapter 4, in Behavioral Aspects of Epilepsy: Principles and Practice, →ISBN, page 282:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The airport security team carefully checked every bag to prevent any ____ incidents from occurring.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The police confirmed that nothing ____ had happened during the night and that the area remained safe for everyone today.