un·to·ward

(ŭn-tôrd′)

adj.

1. Improper; unseemly: untoward behavior.

2. Unfavorable or adverse: an untoward incident.

un·to·ward′ly adv.

un·to·ward′ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

untoward

(ˌʌntəˈwɔːd; ʌnˈtəʊəd)

adj

1. characterized by misfortune, disaster, or annoyance

2. not auspicious; adverse; unfavourable

3. unseemly or improper

4. out of the ordinary; out of the way

5. archaic refractory; perverse

6. obsolete awkward, ungainly, or uncouth

ˌuntoˈwardness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

un•to•ward

(ʌnˈtɔrd, -ˈtoʊrd)

adj.

1. unfavorable or unfortunate.

2. improper.

3. Archaic. froward; perverse.

[1520–30]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	untoward - not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society; "was buried with indecent haste"; "indecorous behavior"; "language unbecoming to a lady"; "unseemly to use profanity"; "moved to curb their untoward ribaldry" indecent, unbecoming, uncomely, unseemly, indecorous improper - not suitable or right or appropriate; "slightly improper to dine alone with a married man"; "improper medication"; "improper attire for the golf course"
	2.	untoward - contrary to your interests or welfare; "adverse circumstances"; "made a place for themselves under the most untoward conditions" adverse, inauspicious unfavorable, unfavourable - not encouraging or approving or pleasing; "unfavorable conditions"; "an unfavorable comparison"; "unfavorable comments", "unfavorable impression"

untoward

adjective unfavourable, unfortunate, disastrous, adverse, contrary, annoying, awkward, irritating, unlucky, inconvenient, untimely, inauspicious, inimical, ill-timed, vexatious, inopportune The surveyor's report didn't highlight anything untoward.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

untoward

adjective

1. Tending to discourage, retard, or make more difficult:

adverse, disadvantageous, negative, unadvantageous, unfavorable, unsatisfactory.

2. Involving or undergoing chance misfortune:

hapless, ill-fated, ill-starred, luckless, star-crossed, unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky.

3. Not submitting to discipline or control:

disorderly, fractious, indocile, intractable, lawless, obstinate, obstreperous, recalcitrant, refractory, uncontrollable, undisciplined, ungovernable, unmanageable, unruly, wild.

Idiom: out of line.

4. Not in keeping with conventional mores:

immodest, improper, indecent, indecorous, indelicate, naughty, unbecoming, unbefitting, unseemly.

Idiom: out of line.

Translations

infausto

untoward

[ˌʌntəˈwɔːd] ADJ (= adverse) → adverso; (= inapt) → impropio; (= unfortunate) → desafortunado

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

untoward

[ˌʌntəˈwɔː^rd] adj → fâcheux/euse

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

untoward

adj (= unfortunate) event → unglücklich, bedauerlich; (= unseemly) → unpassend, ungehörig; nothing untoward had happened → es war kein Unheil geschehen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

untoward

[ˌʌntəˈwɔːd] adj (frm) → increscioso/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Chairman, before we bend to our noble task of purifying politics, in the interest of good government I wish to say a word of the untoward events of last evening.

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I pictured their lives, troubled by no untoward adventure, honest, decent, and, by reason of those two upstanding, pleasant children, so obviously destined to carry on the normal traditions of their race and station, not without significance.

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Bear in mind, too, that under these untoward circumstances he has to cut many feet deep in the flesh; and in that subterraneous manner, without so much as getting one single peep into the ever-contracting gash thus made, he must skilfully steer clear of all adjacent, interdicted parts, and exactly divide the spine at a critical point hard by its insertion into the skull.

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The beer frolic, however, passed off without any untoward circumstance; and, unlike most drinking bouts, left neither headache nor heartache behind.

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She did not faint, and nothing untoward occurred to interrupt the ceremony.

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They at last succeeded in getting the upper hand of these untoward streams; only, in consequence of the loosening of the soil, the wheel partly gave way, and a slight partial settlement ensued.

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She lived with her single daughter in a very small way, and was considered with all the regard and respect which a harmless old lady, under such untoward circumstances, can excite.

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Men, upon too many occasions, do not give their own understandings fair play; but, yielding to some untoward bias, they entangle themselves in words and confound themselves in subtleties.

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The hereditary French holiday spirit of the French voyageurs is hardly to be depressed by any adversities; and they can manage to get up a fete in the most squalid situations, and under the most untoward circumstances.

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In something less than an hour-and-a-half he had skirted the south of the King's Hintock estates and ascended to the untoward solitude of Cross-in-Hand, the unholy stone whereon Tess had been compelled by Alec d'Urberville, in his whim of reformation, to swear the strange oath that she would never wilfully tempt him again.

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"No; indigestion," I retorted, and continued my walk as if nothing untoward had occurred.

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She had found a seat, where in excessive trembling she was enduring all these fearful thoughts, while the other three, no longer under any restraint, were giving vent to their feelings of vexation, lamenting over such an unlooked-for premature arrival as a most untoward event, and without mercy wishing poor Sir Thomas had been twice as long on his passage, or were still in Antigua.

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