What does haywire mean?
Word: Haywire
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Haywire means out of control or not working properly. People usually say that a machine or a plan has gone haywire.
Synonyms: erratic, out of control
Antonyms: orderly
How do you spell haywire?
Syllables: hay - wire
Tricky part: Haywire is written as one word, with no hyphen and no space, even though it is made of two.
Watch out for: haiwire, haywyre
Memory tip: Write it in one go: a machine that has gone haywire cannot stop for a break, and neither can the word.
Idioms and Phrases
- go haywire: to stop working properly or go out of control Example: "The traffic lights went haywire during the storm, so volunteers waved the cars through the crossing."
Haywire in a sentence
Example 1: My compass went haywire when I held it near the speaker.
Example 2: Our plans for the picnic went haywire when the bus broke down.
Example 3: The printer in the staff room has gone haywire again and is printing blank pages.
Fun Fact
The word seems to have started in the United States in the early 1900s, among loggers who mocked badly equipped camps whose tools were held together with makeshift repairs.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Fusion
Which two parts join to make a word for a machine or plan that has stopped behaving as it should?
1. hey 2. wire 3. hay 4. wier 5. loft 6. fork
a) 1 and 6
b) 1 and 2
c) 3 and 2
d) 3 and 4
Show answer
c) 3 and 2. The first part is the dried grass that cows eat, and the second is thin metal.
Word Puzzle
Match the words in the two lists:
1. haywire 2. sturdy 3. weary a. strong b. tired c. chaotic
a) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
b) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
c) 1-a, 2-b, 3-c
d) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
Show answer
d) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b. A haywire plan is chaotic, a sturdy table is strong and a weary traveller is tired.
Jumble Tumble
Choose the correct sequence of the jumbled letters to form a meaningful word:
ihryewa 1234567
a) 2746135
b) 5316472
c) 2741635
d) 2476135
Show answer
a) 2746135. Places 2, 7, 4, 6, 1, 3 and 5 spell the word for out of control.
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in the given sentence?
The robot at our science exibition went haywire and started spining in circles, so our teacher switched it off at the plug.
a) 1
b) 2
c) 0
d) 3
Show answer
b) 2. Exhibition needs an h after the x, and spinning has a double n; haywire is correct.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Oscar said his phone had gone haywire. What most likely happened?
a) It got a smart new cover.
b) It was switched off for the night.
c) It kept opening apps by itself.
d) It was fully charged by morning.
Show answer
c) It kept opening apps by itself.
2. Which headline shows a plan going haywire?
a) Sports day ends in a muddle as rain and a power cut strike
b) Sports day ends on time with every race run as planned
c) Sports day moved to Friday after a calm meeting
d) Sports day opens early with a short welcome speech
Show answer
a) Sports day ends in a muddle as rain and a power cut strike
