adj · neutral
wayward
UK/ˈweɪwəd/US/ˈweɪwərd/WAY·ward
difficult to control or predict; tending to behave differently from what is expected
Examples
“My little cousin can be wayward—one day he loves football, the next he won't touch it.”
“The director had to rein in the wayward project before it damaged the company's reputation.”
“Teenagers can be wayward as they try to find their own identity.”
Band 8 sentence
“The firm's wayward expansion into markets it didn't understand soon proved costly.”
Collocations
- a wayward child
- wayward behaviour
- reign in a wayward project
Word family
Common mistakes
waywards→wayward
waywardly child→wayward child
Say it for a higher band
5stubborn→6unpredictable→7+wayward
Synonyms
unpredictable
headstrong
Easily confused
willful
“Her willful refusal to apologise made the situation worse.”
stubborn
“He was too stubborn to admit his mistake.”
Related words
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In -ward
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