Skip to main content
PlainSpell

thwart

/θwɔɹt/adjective, verb, noun

thwart is spelled T-H-W-A-R-T: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 26,776th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, thwart means “Placed or situated across something else; cross, oblique, transverse” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in thwart?

Letters6: T-H-W-A-R-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.1 times per million words; the 26,776th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is thwart?

Thwart appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 26,776th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce thwart?

  • UK /θwɔːt/
  • US /θwɔɹt/

Thwart has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-thwart.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with thwart?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as thwart from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɹt/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of thwart

  • more thwart comparative
  • most thwart superlative
  • thwarts present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • thwarting participle, present
  • thwarted participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does thwart mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Placed or situated across something else; cross, oblique, transverse.

  2. 2

    datedOf people: having a tendency to oppose; obstinate, perverse, stubborn.

  3. 3

    datedOf situations or things: adverse, unfavourable, unlucky.

verb

  1. 1

    To cause to fail; to frustrate, to prevent.

    Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the thunderstorm.

  2. 2

    obsoleteTo place (something) across (another thing); to position crosswise.

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo hinder or obstruct by placing (something) in the way of; to block, to impede, to oppose.

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo move (something) across or counter to; to cross.

    An arrow thwarts the air.

noun

  1. 1

    A seat across a boat on which a rower may sit.

    The fisherman sat on the aft thwart to row.

  2. 2

    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.

  3. 3

    rareAn act of thwarting; something which thwarts; a hindrance, an obstacle.

adverb

  1. 1

    obsoleteAcross the direction of travel or length of; athwart, crosswise, obliquely, transversely.

preposition

  1. 1

    archaicAcross, athwart.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Thwart in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Spanishatravesado (placed or situated across something else – see…), contestatario (having a tendency to oppose – see also…), chasquear, empecer, entorpecer, obstar (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure)
Frenchcontrecarrer, contrarier (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure), banc (seat across a boat)
Germandurchkreuzen, entgegenwirken, vereiteln, konterkarieren (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure), Ruderbank (seat across a boat), Ducht (brace perpendicular to the keel)
Portuguesefrustrar, contrariar (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure), banco (seat across a boat)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does thwart come from?

From Middle English thwerte, from the adjective thwert (“obstinate, perverse”), from Old Norse þvert, neuter of þverr (“transverse”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after thwart