thrawn

Scots

Adjective

thrawn (comparative mair thrawn, superlative maist thrawn)

  1. contrary or perverse; twisted or misshapen.
  2. Contrary-minded, in the sense of defiance.
    • 2014, BBC Scotland political reporting, quoting former first minister Henry McLeish: "There is an old Scottish word - thrawn - which essentially means the more you tell people they can't do something, the more they are likely to say 'I might want to do it'."
      (BBC 2014-09-15 @ 00.15, live reporting feed, after voting closed for the 2014 Scottish Referendum)
  3. difficult, awkward.

Usage notes

Used in standard Scots and Ulster Scots.

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