How to Use untoward in a Sentence

untoward

adjective
  • There was nothing untoward about his appearance.
  • The Dodgers are the only team in the history of any sport never to do anything untoward.
    Nick Canepa Columnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 May 2021
  • But the clothes came off too quickly for anything untoward to make contact.
    Sarah-Jane Stratford, Marie Claire, 21 Oct. 2015
  • Anything untoward is marked for the attention of a handful of senior medics who patrol the area in green scrubs.
    Tariq Panja, New York Times, 19 Dec. 2019
  • As of Wednesday evening, the team found nothing untoward, Ludeman said.
    Rachel E. Stassen-Berger, Twin Cities, 22 Mar. 2017
  • Countless people say the same thing in passing, and there’s nothing untoward about it.
    Abigail Van Buren, oregonlive, 28 Dec. 2020
  • But there is something untoward in his pep talks to her, where his hand possibly lingers a little too long on her knee.
    Guy Lodge, Variety, 30 Aug. 2021
  • Dictated by the car and not the mileage, these visits have revealed nothing untoward.
    Beth Nichols, Car and Driver, 26 Jan. 2022
  • So his reaction is, No one will ever be able to say that there was something untoward.
    The New York Times Magazine, New York Times, 12 Dec. 2017
  • There wouldn’t be anything untoward about such an outcome.
    John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2020
  • Even a few untoward remarks like this to students can have profound effects.
    Barbara Oakley, WSJ, 13 July 2018
  • Sessions and his spokesperson each denied there was anything untoward about the meetings, or about his statement to the Senate.
    Jack Holmes, Esquire, 10 July 2017
  • The strategy works most of the time until something untoward happens.
    Chris Farrell, Star Tribune, 6 Mar. 2021
  • The odds of coming across a driver that is doing something untoward is seemingly quite high.
    Lance Eliot, Forbes, 1 June 2021
  • The lesson should be: If bad peers are applying untoward pressure, find better peers.
    Mike Kerrigan, WSJ, 19 Aug. 2021
  • Until bad bosses have to worry about being sent off the pitch, their untoward actions are unlikely to stop.
    The Economist, 11 June 2020
  • But he has been suspended six times for untoward acts, and was fined earlier this season for diving.
    Kevin Allen, USA TODAY, 27 Apr. 2018
  • This is not all that uncommon Bob so will not be seen as untoward whatsoever.
    Samantha Nolan, cleveland.com, 1 Nov. 2017
  • But if that hive is full of Japanese honey bees, the bees will play it cool, like nothing untoward is happening, until the hornet enters the hive.
    Alex Fox, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 May 2020
  • In the past year, Musk has gotten into a lot of trouble over his erratic and untoward behavior on the social media site.
    Rani Molla, Vox, 18 June 2019
  • Whether cruising along or at full-stomp, the 10-speed auto shifted smoothly and crisply with no untoward hiccups, hunting or clunking.
    Jeff Yip, Houston Chronicle, 9 Feb. 2018
  • Modi had asked people to switch off lights—leading to a grid failure, nothing untoward happened.
    Manavi Kapur, Quartz India, 5 Apr. 2020
  • The toilets are available 24 hours a day, staffed to deter untoward activities, and are cleaned daily.
    Rusty Simmons, SFChronicle.com, 4 Oct. 2020
  • Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said there was nothing untoward or undemocratic in the process under way.
    Ann M. Simmons, WSJ, 9 Sep. 2018
  • Nurse gave a brief answer after Game 6, saying his coaching staff didn’t do anything untoward.
    Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY, 10 Sep. 2020
  • Alvina Vasquez, a spokeswoman for Democratic Colorado, would not say who was funding the group and insisted there was nothing untoward about the ads.
    New York Times, 16 June 2022
  • Black women have received untoward commentary about our hair texture, our hairstyle choices, and our hair loss for a very long time now.
    Aley Arion, Essence, 1 Apr. 2022
  • His supporters say there's nothing untoward about a chairman being briefed by his staff.
    Manu Raju, Jeremy Herb and Laura Jarrett, CNN, 4 May 2018
  • The source also implied that Timberlake wouldn't be stupid enough to flaunt himself in public if anything untoward was going on.
    Amy MacKelden, Harper's BAZAAR, 24 Nov. 2019
  • And so far there's been nothing untoward about the president or his activity or anything that has been put forward.
    Fox News, 29 Apr. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'untoward.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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