1
: following one's own capricious, wanton, or depraved inclinations : ungovernable
a wayward child
2
: following no clear principle or law : unpredictable
3
: opposite to what is desired or expected : untoward
wayward fate
waywardly
adverb
waywardness
noun
Synonyms
Examples of wayward in a Sentence
parents of a wayward teenager
had always been the most wayward of their three children
Recent Examples on the Web
The discovery sheds light on a rare but growing population of lunar asteroids, which could reveal just how many times impacts on the moon have sent wayward space rocks flying into the vicinity of Earth.
—
Ashley Strickland, CNN, 27 Jan. 2025
Sometimes, a greased palm may be all that’s needed to handle wayward men, as when a girl’s complaint about a bad boyfriend facilitates, for the right price, her chance to get a few good smacks at him behind closed doors.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2025
For the educators, that creates an amusing challenge: The Sunny gang isn’t a pack of wayward teenagers waiting for an understanding mentor to show them the light, and their moral failures can’t be rehabilitated with a pep talk.
—Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 9 Jan. 2025
The surrounding hills were blackened, the aftermath of brush fires started by wayward rockets.
—Jack Nicas, New York Times, 28 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for wayward 
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Ashley Strickland, CNN, 27 Jan. 2025
Sometimes, a greased palm may be all that’s needed to handle wayward men, as when a girl’s complaint about a bad boyfriend facilitates, for the right price, her chance to get a few good smacks at him behind closed doors.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2025
For the educators, that creates an amusing challenge: The Sunny gang isn’t a pack of wayward teenagers waiting for an understanding mentor to show them the light, and their moral failures can’t be rehabilitated with a pep talk.
—Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 9 Jan. 2025
The surrounding hills were blackened, the aftermath of brush fires started by wayward rockets.
—Jack Nicas, New York Times, 28 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for wayward
Dictionary Entries Near wayward
Cite this Entry
“Wayward.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wayward. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
wayward
adjective
way·ward
ˈwā-wərd 
1
: tending to do as one pleases : disobedient
wayward children
2
: not following a rule or regular course of action
waywardly
adverb
waywardness
noun
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