thwart
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
thwart
- /θwɔːt/ UK
- /θwɔɹt/ US
Rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)t
Where it comes from
From Middle English thwerte, from the adjective thwert (“obstinate, perverse”), from Old Norse þvert, neuter of þverr (“transverse”).
Cognates
The English adjective is cognate with Danish tvær (“sullen, sulky”), Gothic 𐌸𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷𐍃 (þwairhs, “angry”), Middle Dutch dwers, dwars (modern Dutch dwars (“crosswise, transverse; slantwise, askew; stubbornly disobedient”)), Norwegian tvert, tvært, Old Frisian þweres, dwers (Saterland Frisian twars, West Frisian dwers, dwerz (“across, to the other side of; beyond”)), Middle Low German dwers, dwars (Low German dwars (“contrary; cross-grained”)), Old English þweorh (“transverse; perverse; angry, cross”), Old High German twer (Middle High German twer, quer, modern German quer (“crosswise; cross”)), Swedish tvär (“across, transverse; of a curve: sharp; immediate, sudden; grumpy, stubborn”). It is related to queer; also Proto-West Germanic *þwerh,
adjective more thwart · most thwart
- Placed or situated across something else; cross, oblique, transverse. 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; […]
-
Of people: having a tendency to oppose; obstinate, perverse, stubborn.
[…] 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, t
Similar: cross-grained, froward, adamant, ardent, grim, untiring, bent on, bloody-minded, bullheaded, certain, chronic, confirmed
-
Of situations or things: adverse, unfavourable, unlucky.
Similar: unpropitious, untoward, down on one's luck, fortuneless, ill-boding, ill-fated, ill-starred, inauspicious, infelicitous, infortunate, hapless, luckless
adverb
- Across the direction of travel or length of; athwart, crosswise, obliquely, transversely. 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.
preposition
- Across, athwart.
verb thwarts · thwarting · thwarted · thwart
-
To cause to fail; to frustrate, to prevent.
Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the thunderstorm.
Similar: balk, foil, spoil, cross, discomfit, disconcert, baffle, scuttle, confound, dash, traverse, hamstring · Opposite: promote
- To place (something) across (another thing); to position crosswise.
-
To hinder or obstruct by placing (something) in the way of; to block, to impede, to oppose.
Similar: behedge, blunt, crimp, foreclose, delay, difficult, diminish, forestay, retroact, interfere, intervene, forslow
- To move (something) across or counter to; to cross. An arrow thwarts the air.
noun thwarts
- A seat across a boat on which a rower may sit. The fisherman sat on the aft thwart to row.
- A brace, perpendicular to the keel, that helps maintain the beam (“breadth”) of a marine vessel against external water pressure and that may serve to support the rail. A well-made dugout canoe rarely needs a thwart.
- An act of thwarting; something which thwarts; a hindrance, an obstacle.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: spoil, frustrate, baffle, scotch, queer, cross, foil, bilk, cross thwart, obstruct, impede, stop, circumvent, hinder, undermine, suppress
Translations
Every language
adj placed or situated across something else — see also oblique, transverse
| Español | atravesado |
|---|
adj having a tendency to oppose — see also obstinate, perverse
| Español | contestatario |
|---|---|
| Русский | неподдающийся nepoddajuščijsja |
verb to prevent; to halt; to cause failure
| Español | chasquear, empecer, entorpecer, obstar, obstaculizar, dificultar |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 좌절시키다 jwajeolsikida |
| 日本語 | 阻む habamu, 阻止する soshi suru, 排する hai suru |
| 中文 | 阻撓 /阻挠 zǔnáo |
| Português | frustrar, contrariar |
| Français | contrecarrer, contrarier |
| Deutsch | durchkreuzen, entgegenwirken, vereiteln, konterkarieren |
| Italiano | sventare, bloccare |
| Ελληνικά | ματαιώνω mataióno |
| Русский | мешать исполнению mešát’ ispolnéniju, препя́тствовать prepjátstvovatʹ, воспрепя́тствовать vosprepjátstvovatʹ, расстра́ивать rasstráivatʹ, расстро́ить rasstróitʹ |
| العربية | فَشَّلَ faššala, أَحْبَطَ ʔaḥbaṭa |
| עברית | סיכל sikél |
verb to move across
| Русский | пересекать peresekatʹ |
|---|
noun seat across a boat
| Español | banco (de remeros), bancada |
|---|---|
| Português | banco |
| Français | banc |
| Deutsch | Ruderbank |
| Italiano | arcaccia |
| Русский | ба́нка bánka |
| עברית | סַפְסַל safsal |
noun brace perpendicular to the keel
| Deutsch | Ducht |
|---|
Talk about this word "thwart." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/thwart. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. thwart. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/thwart "thwart." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/thwart.Cite this
@misc{thwart_2026,
title = {thwart},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/thwart},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
