Josiah
Senior Member
- Location
- 50 miles east of Cincinnati, OH
untoward
[uhn-tawrd, -tohrd]
adjective
1.unfavorable or unfortunate:
Untoward circumstances forced him into bankruptcy.
2. improper:
untoward social behavior.
Due to the presence of the negative prefix *un-, the adjective untoward sounds like it should mean the opposite of toward—that is, away. But in modern usage, the adjective means (1) not favorable, (2) troublesome, (3) hard to guide or control, and (4) improper. The word comes from a mostly archaic sense of toward—namely, propitious or favorable. While this use of toward has fallen out of the language, its antonym, untoward, remains.
Although British and Australian English favor towards instead of toward, this does not carry over to the adjective untoward. Untowards is extremely rare.
[uhn-tawrd, -tohrd]
adjective
1.unfavorable or unfortunate:
Untoward circumstances forced him into bankruptcy.
2. improper:
untoward social behavior.
Due to the presence of the negative prefix *un-, the adjective untoward sounds like it should mean the opposite of toward—that is, away. But in modern usage, the adjective means (1) not favorable, (2) troublesome, (3) hard to guide or control, and (4) improper. The word comes from a mostly archaic sense of toward—namely, propitious or favorable. While this use of toward has fallen out of the language, its antonym, untoward, remains.
Although British and Australian English favor towards instead of toward, this does not carry over to the adjective untoward. Untowards is extremely rare.
