What does "thwart" mean?
A seat across a boat on which a rower may sit.
Thwart
/θwɔːt/ adj, adv, noun, prep, verb
adj, adv, noun, prep, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A seat across a boat on which a rower may sit.
- Grammar: thwart is listed as adj, adv, noun, prep, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: across, across the grain, annul, antagonize.
- Useful contrasts: advance, advantage, aid.
- Usage evidence: Tom tried to thwart Mary's plans.
How to use "thwart"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "thwart" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "thwart" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "thwart" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "thwart" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "thwart" is acting as adj, adv, noun, prep, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "across" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "thwart", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A seat across a boat on which a rower may sit.
"The fisherman sat on the aft thwart to row."
- 2 a crosspiece spreading the gunnels of a boat; used as a seat in a rowboat wordnet
- 3 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."
- 4 An act of thwarting; something which thwarts; a hindrance, an obstacle. rare
Verb
- 1 To cause to fail; to frustrate, to prevent. transitive
"Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the thunderstorm."
- 2 hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of wordnet
- 3 To place (something) across (another thing); to position crosswise. obsolete, transitive
- 4 To hinder or obstruct by placing (something) in the way of; to block, to impede, to oppose. also, figuratively, obsolete, transitive
- 5 To move (something) across or counter to; to cross. ambitransitive, obsolete
"An arrow thwarts the air."
Adjective
- 1 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; […]"
- 2 Of people: having a tendency to oppose; obstinate, perverse, stubborn. dated, figuratively
"[…] 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, […]"
- 3 Of situations or things: adverse, unfavourable, unlucky. dated, figuratively
Adverb
- 1 Across the direction of travel or length of; athwart, crosswise, obliquely, transversely. not-comparable, obsolete
"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
- 1 Across, athwart. archaic, poetic
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Tom tried to thwart Mary's plans."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "thwart"?
Common synonyms include: across, across the grain, annul, antagonize, arrest, athwart.
How do you use "thwart" in a sentence?
Tom tried to thwart Mary's plans.
How do you pronounce "thwart"?
Pronounced /θwɔːt/.
Etymology
The adjective is derived from Early Middle English thwert, thwerte, thuart, thurt, thurte, thwart, thwarte, twart, twarte, twhart, twhert, twort, þuert, þwerrt, þwert, þwerte, ðwert (“crosswise, transverse; counter, opposing; contrary, obstinate”), borrowed from Old Norse þvert (“across, athwart”), originally the neuter form of þverr (“across, transverse”), from Proto-Germanic *þwerhaz (“cross; adverse”) (altered or influenced by Proto-Germanic *þweraną (“to stir; to swirl; to turn”)), from Proto-Germanic *þerh-, probably from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to spin; to turn”). 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, The adverb is derived from Middle English thwert, ywerte (“crosswise; across the grain”); the Middle English Dictionary suggests the adverb was derived from the adjective, while the Oxford English Dictionary notes that the adverb is attested earlier than the adjective. The verb is derived from Middle English thwerten, thwert, thwarten, þwerten (“to lie across; to oppose, to thwart”), and further from the adverb and perhaps also the adjective. Noun sense 1 (“a seat across a boat on which a rower may sit”) may be derived from the adverb or adjective, from the position of the seat across the length of the boat, while noun sense 3 (“(rare) an act of thwarting”) is derived from the verb. Compare Middle English thwert (“in in thwert: crosswise”), from the adjective.