Meaning

Placed or situated across something else; cross, oblique, transverse..

Definitions by Sense

1. Placed or situated across something else; cross, oblique, transverse.
2. (figuratively, dated) Of people: having a tendency to oppose; obstinate, perverse, stubborn.
3. (figuratively, dated) Of situations or things: adverse, unfavourable, unlucky.
4. (obsolete) Across the direction of travel or length of; athwart, crosswise, obliquely, transversely.
5. (archaic or poetic) Across, athwart.
6. (transitive) To cause to fail; to frustrate, to prevent.
7. (transitive, obsolete) To place (something) across (another thing); to position crosswise.
8. (transitive, also figuratively, obsolete) To hinder or obstruct by placing (something) in the way of; to block, to impede, to oppose.

Example Sentences

Which elſe to ſeveral Sphears thou muſt aſcribe, / Mov'd contrarie with thwart obliquities, / Or ſave the Sun his labour, and that ſwift / Nocturnal and Diurnal rhomb ſuppos'd, / Inviſible elſe above all Starrs, the Wheele / Of Day and Night; […]

[…] harke Nature, heare deere Goddeſſe, ſuſpend thy purpoſe, if thou did'ſt intend to make this creature fruitful into her wombe, conuey ſterility, drie vp in hir the organs of increaſe, and from her derogate body neuer ſpring a babe to honour her, if ſhee muſt teeme, create her childe of ſpleene, that it may liue and bee a thourt diſuetur'd^([sic – meaning disnatured]) torment to her, […]

[…] and it is without all controuerſie, that learning doth make the minds of men gentle, generous, maniable, and pliant to gouernment; whereas Ignorance makes them churliſh, thwart, and mutinous; […]

With adverſe blaſt up-turns them from the South / Notus and Afer black with thundrous Clouds / From Serraliona; thwart of theſe as fierce / Forth ruſh the Levant and the Ponent VVindes / Eurus and Zephir with their lateral noiſe, / Sirocco, and Libecchio.

Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the thunderstorm.

The police thwarted the would-be assassin.

If thou grieueſt that beeing the daughter of a Prince, and enuie thwarteth thée with ſuch hard exigents, thinke that royaltie is a faire marke; that Crownes haue croſſes when mirth is in Cottages; that the fairer the Roſe is, the ſooner it is bitten with Catterpillers; […]

The Underſtanding and Will never diſagreed; for the Propoſals of the one never thwarted the Inclinations of the other.

Word Forms

• more thwart
• most thwart
• thwarts
• thwarting
• thwarted
• no-table-tags
• glossary
• thwart
• thwartest
• thwartedst
• thwarteth
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Synonyms for thwart

Antonyms for thwart

Related Words

When Should You Use Thwart?

Use thwart when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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