waywardly

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adverb

In a wayward manner.

OriginProto-Germanic *līką ← Proto-Indo-European *leyg- ← English wayward →
Scrabble 22
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Meanings

adverbwaywardly (comparative more waywardly, superlative most waywardly)

comparative more waywardly · superlative most waywardly

  1. In a wayward manner.

    He waywardly wished for something, and he set about obtaining it like a child in a nursery.

    1874, Thomas Hardy, chapter XV, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC

Origin

  1. Englishwayward
  2. Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
  3. Proto-Germanic*līką
  4. Englishwaywardly

From wayward + -ly.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

waywardly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waywardly

MLA

“waywardly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waywardly. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “waywardly,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waywardly.

Source: waywardly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.