frowardness means the quality of being froward. It carries an Arena rating of 1334, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, frowardness ranks #907 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,470 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #4,999 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #5,263 of 17,131 for Scariest Words.
Why “frowardness” is a great word
A disposition marked by habitual disobedience, willful contrariness, and a perverse difficulty of management. Its lineage is Middle English *frowardnesse*, from *froward*, itself from Old English *frāweard*, meaning “turning away, adverse,” a compound of *frā-* (“away from”) and *-weard* (“-ward”). Unlike obstinacy, which suggests a passive, mulish adherence to one’s own path, or insolence, which denotes a disrespectful contempt, frowardness implies an active, ingrained spirit of opposition. It is the child who, when offered a sweet, deliberately chooses the bitter herb; the horse that balks not from fear, but from a deep-seated aversion to the bridle; the specific, exhausting chill of a hearth fire that sputters and smokes no matter how it is banked. It is the quiet, corrosive pleasure found in turning away.
Etymology
From Middle English frowardnesse; equivalent to froward + -ness.
noun
- The quality of being froward.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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