Wayward means wilful and hard to guide or control. A wayward child, a wayward shot, wayward behaviour.
It is gentler than disobedient because it suggests drifting rather than defiance, which is why it suits children, shots and hair alike. It is a shortening of away-ward, meaning turned away, and the away is still doing the work.
1adjectivewaywardWilful and hard to guide or control.
“Her wayward teenage son kept skipping school and staying out all night.”
wayward is a quality.
A shortening of awayward, meaning turned away, from away plus -ward.
Proto-Indo-European
*wer- — to heed, defend
Proto-Germanic
*warduz — guard, keeper
Old English
weard — keeper, watchman, guard, guardian, protector; lord, king; possessor
Middle English
warde
English
ward
English, today
wayward
Shortening of away + ward. ward comes from Middle English warde, from Old English weard (“keeper, watchman, guard, guardian, protector; lord, king; possessor”), from Proto-Germanic warduz (“guard, keeper”), from Proto-Indo-European wer- (“to heed, defend”). Cognate with Dutch waard, German Wart.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA