froward
/ˈfɹəʊ.(w)əd/
"froward" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“froward” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Disobedient, contrary, unmanageable; difficult to deal with; with an evil disposition.
Corpus desk
Index EN-froward · froward · English
froward · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "F" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | froward |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈfɹəʊ.(w)əd/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “froward” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
froward is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈfɹəʊ.(w)əd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Disobedient, contrary, unmanageable; difficult to deal with; with an evil disposition.".
froward has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English froward, fraward, equivalent to fro + -ward. Compare Old English fromweard, framweard (“turned away, having the back turned”). The correct English form is froward, spelled F-R-O-W-A-R-D.
Definition
- 1Disobedient, contrary, unmanageable; difficult to deal with; with an evil disposition.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how froward appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The wayes of the frowarde are ſtraunge, but yͤ workes of him yͭ is cleane, are right.
But in the meanwhile, for fear lest if he would wax never the better he would wax much the worse; and from gentle, smooth, sweet, and courteous, might wax angry, rough, froward, and sour, and thereupon be troublous and tedious to the world to make fair weather with; they give him fair words for the while and put him in good comfort, and let him for the re…
Etymology
From Middle English froward, fraward, equivalent to fro + -ward. Compare Old English fromweard, framweard (“turned away, having the back turned”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
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Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.