1
as in rebellious
given to resisting authority or another's control
had always been the most wayward of their three children
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stubborn
given to resisting control or discipline by others
an institution to which wayward teens were often sent
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Recent Examples of wayward
In The Lost Bus, Matthew plays Kevin McKay, a wayward bus driver who rescues 22 schoolchildren.
—
Yamillah Hurtado, PEOPLE, 27 Sep. 2025
Schauffele’s teammate, Patrick Cantlay, hit a wayward tee shot as well that left Schauffele in the rough.
—Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 27 Sep. 2025
Fox investigates criminal activity in small-town Edgewater, while also having to deal with her ex-con father, as well as a mysterious occurrence that involves Fox’s wayward daughter.
—Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 24 Sep. 2025
Bob escapes Lockjaw’s raid, but Willa is captured and the rest of the film chronicles his wayward attempt to find her.
—Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 24 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wayward
Yamillah Hurtado, PEOPLE, 27 Sep. 2025
Schauffele’s teammate, Patrick Cantlay, hit a wayward tee shot as well that left Schauffele in the rough.
—Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 27 Sep. 2025
Fox investigates criminal activity in small-town Edgewater, while also having to deal with her ex-con father, as well as a mysterious occurrence that involves Fox’s wayward daughter.
—Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 24 Sep. 2025
Bob escapes Lockjaw’s raid, but Willa is captured and the rest of the film chronicles his wayward attempt to find her.
—Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 24 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wayward
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wayward
Adjective
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There's just something so irresistible about the lace-up flat with its air of rebellious discipline.—
Alex Sales,
Glamour,
12 Oct. 2025
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Singer Kelis has always been rebellious and non-conforming.—
Elizabeth Ayoola,
Essence,
9 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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These two ingredients mixed together creates a powerful mixture perfect for lifting stubborn stains off grout because of their high cleaning and brightening properties.—
Ashlyn Needham,
Southern Living,
10 Oct. 2025
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Scientists have discovered a cleaner, faster way to recycle one of the world’s most stubborn plastics, not with heat or chemicals, but with sheer mechanical force.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Since Gaddafi was removed from power and killed by rebel forces in 2011, Libya has found itself in turmoil — and its domestic football has mirrored its politics.—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
10 Oct. 2025
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Less than a year after Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali became a Nobel laureate in 2019, a brutal conflict erupted in Tigray, a northern regional state in Ethiopia, between Ethiopian federal military forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front, a rebel group.—
Kim Hjelmgaard,
USA Today,
9 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Erivo will voice Jayne Staplegun, a trailblazing fairy whose defiant streak sparks a rebellion.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
9 Oct. 2025
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What unites these screen works, beyond their focus on LGBTQ individuals, themes and audiences, is their defiant messaging, according to NewFest’s director of programming, Nick McCarthy.—
Elaina Patton,
NBC news,
9 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The 1964 edition builds on that spirit, but the music is more seductively unruly, and more personal.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
9 Oct. 2025
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There, the trio tinkered with ultracold electronics to show that unruly quantum effects could be made macroscopic and controlled.—
Dan Garisto,
Scientific American,
7 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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William meanwhile remained recalcitrant.—
Stacy Schiff,
The Atlantic,
8 Oct. 2025
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Anderson plunges the audience into the rebels’ point of view, immersing us in the recalcitrant pride and swagger of Perfidia Beverly Hills, a revolutionary leader played by Teyana Taylor with a hypnotic sneer of defiance.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
17 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Like a faulty fire hydrant, or a vacuum cleaner whizzing up and down with the uncontrollable hysteria of a feral raccoon, our directive was to suck up as many clicks as possible through every angle imaginable.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
8 Oct. 2025
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Inside, though, the Charlotte Hornets rookie is about to burst from uncontrollable excitement thanks to the anticipation.—
Roderick Boone,
Charlotte Observer,
5 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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In March 2024, Karen was arrested and charged with a DUI and DWI, negligently driving a vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner endangering property, life, and person, as well as recklessly driving a vehicle in wanton and willful disregard for the safety of persons and property.—
Liza Esquibias,
PEOPLE,
10 Oct. 2025
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The three, from Southern California, were arrested and booked into Mono County Jail on suspicion of willful discharge of a firearm in a grossly negligent manner, a felony.—
Bay Area News Group,
Mercury News,
29 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Wayward.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wayward. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
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