How to Use wayward in a Sentence

wayward

adjective
  • The wayward trees are forcing a change, even if no one else will.
    — Hannah Gold, New Yorker, 17 June 2026
  • The wayward pitch struck Cruz in the left wrist and knocked him to the ground.
    — Ryan Divish, The Seattle Times, 25 Feb. 2018
  • Just make sure nobody steps on a wayward ruffle on the dance floor!
    — Conçetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 27 June 2024
  • To be sure, the problem of wayward shopping carts is not new.
    — Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN, 21 Jan. 2023
  • Caglia said, and the whole plant can come to a standstill for a wayward hose to be cut loose.
    — Rachel Becker, The Mercury News, 3 Aug. 2019
  • As the plants grow, tuck any wayward shoots back into the tower.
    — Pam Peirce, SFChronicle.com, 14 Apr. 2020
  • After a wayward drive, Morikawa had to punch out from the pine straw.
    — Gabby Herzig, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
  • His wayward path was presented in terse blasts of punk-blues.
    — Greg Kot, chicagotribune.com, 2 June 2017
  • The first was a guy with his mask hanging from his chin like a wayward bandage.
    — Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2021
  • But what if there were a fast and efficient way to pick up those wayward small pieces?
    — Dorian Smith-Garcia, Parents, 9 Jan. 2024
  • In many team sports, one player can’t reroute a wayward franchise.
    — Tania Ganguli, New York Times, 15 May 2023
  • Prune wayward branches and remove any dead twigs.
    — Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 23 Dec. 2025
  • In the search for a new, safe home, the wayward band comes across a group of neohumans.
    — Kayti Burt, TIME, 19 July 2024
  • No doubt, many reading this have had their own close calls or are victims of wayward e-bikes.
    — Michael Miller, New York Daily News, 22 May 2026
  • Even the players will keep one eye on Tiger, which could lead to quite a few wayward drives.
    — Michael Rosenberg, SI.com, 4 Apr. 2018
  • The water should be on and the hose should be ready to instantly douse any wayward fires.
    — Rebekah L. Sanders, The Arizona Republic, 2 July 2022
  • Take advantage of any wayward warm fronts in the coming weeks.
    — Paul Douglas, Star Tribune, 8 Sep. 2020
  • George was nearly beyond retrieval, a tiny glint of a mote, like a wayward flea.
    — Cynthia Ozick, The New Yorker, 14 June 2021
  • The water should be on, and the hose should be ready to instantly douse any wayward fires.
    — Laura Daniella Sepulveda, The Arizona Republic, 5 July 2023
  • Without preferred lies in place, many of the best players in the world hit wayward shots.
    — Savannah Leigh Richardson, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 May 2025
  • The best cure for the chaos in his mind turns out to be channelling his wayward thoughts into writing.
    — Emily Witt, New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2025
  • Her path to this point was wayward to the extreme, but her mission hasn’t wavered in the least.
    — Scott Tobias, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2020
  • Around that time, the ship’s pilots called for tugboats to come help guide the wayward vessel.
    — Lea Skene, Fortune, 15 May 2024
  • As things stand, that is a wayward proposition, and there is no need for a new law to reform it.
    — Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 6 Feb. 2024
  • If there’s a team meal one night, Monken is there to make sure there are no wayward plates or utensils left out.
    — Christopher Kamrani, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
  • When Anisimova got to the ball on the deuce side, her forehand was wayward.
    — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 12 July 2025
  • Art adjusts his beanie in the mirror, blond hair poking out like the fingers of a wayward plant.
    — Seija Rankin, EW.com, 25 Aug. 2021
  • The wayward reporters gave A&M way too much credit on that front.
    — Brent Zwerneman, San Antonio Express-News, 17 July 2022
  • Please be aware that the wayward golf ball had gotten over a tall netting that was surrounding the golf course.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2021
  • The vertical scar on his right eyebrow, courtesy of a wayward stick, was proof of how much the game meant to him.
    — Greg Bishop, SI.com, 13 Apr. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wayward.' 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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