Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Difficult to control or predict because of willful or perverse behavior: Describes a person, especially a child, who is stubbornly resistant to guidance, discipline, or authority, often acting on unpredictable whims.
   • Capricious, erratic: Describes behavior or a nature that is subject to sudden, unaccountable, or seemingly irrational changes of mood or action.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • The wayward child refused to follow any of the teacher's instructions.
  • Her wayward behavior made it difficult for her to keep a steady job.
  • He was sent to a special school to correct his wayward tendencies.

Advanced Usage

• "a wayward genius": a person of great talent who is unpredictable and does not conform to rules or expectations.
  • The director was known as a wayward genius, brilliant but impossible to manage.
• "wayward thoughts": thoughts that are difficult to control or that stray from the intended focus.
  • During the meditation, she struggled to rein in her wayward thoughts.

Variants and Related Words

• Waywardness (noun): The quality or state of being wayward.
  • His early waywardness gave way to a more disciplined adulthood.

Synonyms

• Willful: Deliberately stubborn.
• Headstrong: Determined to have one's own way.
• Perverse: Showing a deliberate and obstinate desire to behave in a way that is unreasonable or unacceptable.
• Unruly: Disorderly and disruptive; not amenable to discipline or control.
• Capricious: Given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior.

Related Phrases

• "to go wayward": to stray from the correct or expected path, either literally or figuratively.
  • Without proper guidance, the young athlete's career went wayward.
• "a wayward shot" (in sports): a shot that goes off-target in an erratic manner.
  • The golfer's wayward shot landed deep in the rough.

Related Idioms

• "To have a wayward streak": to have a persistent tendency to be rebellious or unpredictable.
  • Despite his professional demeanor, he had a wayward streak that sometimes got him into trouble.

Adjective

1. resistant to guidance or discipline
   • Mary Mary quite contrary
   • an obstinate child with a violent temper
   • a perverse mood
   • wayward behavior