waywardness

UK/ˈweɪ.wə(ɹ)d.nəs/US/ˈweɪ.wə(ɹ)d.nəs/

nounC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speech — ward sits at #1,957Too rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Waywardness is a stubborn refusal to be guided. Youthful waywardness.

It is gentler than defiance, suggesting drifting off course rather than fighting. Waywardness is forgiven in the young and called something harsher in anybody else.

Definitions of waywardness

1nounwaywardnessA stubborn refusal to be guided.C2
“His waywardness cost him three jobs and gained him a book.”

waywardness is a quality.

Where it comes from

From wayward + -ness.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

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