athwart 1 of 2

1
as in through
from one side to the other of an intervening space after it enters the Gulf of Mexico, the hurricane is predicted to advance athwart to the Texas coastline

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Relevance
2
as in diagonally
in a line or direction running from corner to corner we hung the twisted strips of crepe paper athwart to the floor and ceiling so that they formed giant crosses on all four walls

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

athwart

2 of 2

preposition

as in across
to the opposite side of athwart the road was farmland as far as the eye could see

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of athwart
Preposition
An obstructionist Supreme Court, however, stood athwart the New Deal’s path. John Fabian Witt, The New Republic, 26 Aug. 2022 One of the world’s largest container ships was wedged athwart the Suez canal on March 24th, apparently blown off course by high winds. The Economist, 24 Mar. 2021 One of the world’s largest container ships was wedged athwart the Suez Canal on March 23rd, blown off course by high winds. The Economist, 27 Mar. 2021 The outgoing Trump administration is standing athwart a massive investment management trend. Michael Taylor, ExpressNews.com, 2 Dec. 2020 Her mother, feeling abandoned by her constantly traveling husband, had affairs; her father’s heartfelt liberalism would run athwart of the postwar Red Scare. Elsa Dixler, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Apr. 2020 Indeed, instead of ostentatious acts of helping people, the administration almost preferred being seen standing athwart attempts to provide relief. Alex Pareene, The New Republic, 20 Dec. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for athwart
Adverb
  • Even for those following every step of the way in the eight-week trial, from jury selection to witness testimony, closing arguments and jury deliberations, there were a lot of claims and evidence to parse through.
    KiMi Robinson, USA Today, 4 July 2025
  • The ordinance was rushed through by abusing the emergency ordinance process.
    Scott Wartman, The Enquirer, 4 July 2025
Adverb
  • But pulling the unit back farther could yield a viewing rectangle that stretches 150 inches diagonally.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 1 July 2025
  • The developer plans to build a new collector road, North San Marco Way, which would diagonally cross the development on the north side of Franklin Road between Black Cat and Ten Mile roads, but expects that this new road would not have been enough to generate the necessary visibility.
    Marcus Dorsey, Idaho Statesman, 20 Mar. 2025
Preposition
  • Wednesday's incident came amid a 700% increase in assaults against immigration and other federal agents carrying out operations across the country.
    Louis Casiano , Brooke Taylor, FOXNews.com, 11 July 2025
  • Unveiled during a late-night livestream, Musk claimed the new chatbot outperforms most graduate students across disciplines and now supports improved voice interactions.
    Sharon Goldman, Fortune, 10 July 2025
Adverb
  • When the strike was over, Iain celebrated Young Sheldon being able to resume filming, thanking the show's crew on Instagram, per Screen Rant.
    Christopher Rudolph, People.com, 15 July 2025
  • It was revealed that Gatwa’s time as the Doctor was over in May, during the finale of the show’s second season as a co-production between the BBC and Disney+.
    Ellise Shafer, Variety, 15 July 2025
Preposition
  • Our current favorite pairs include a few riffs on those flats from The Row—but thanks to the recent creative renaissance around jellies, there are so many more options to discover.
    Jake Henry Smith, Glamour, 15 July 2025
  • At the 2025 Anime Expo in Los Angeles, the company shared that roughly half of its subscribers — that's over 150 million households, or around 300 million people — are watching anime consistently.
    Allison DeGrushe Published, EW.com, 14 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Athwart.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/athwart. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.

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