I read an article and there was one word that truly stuck in my craw. Here is the paragraph:

"For the last 37 years of his life, he ached at the thought of how close they had come to remarrying, only to be thwarted by her death."

Is this how you would use the word thwart?

For the record, the article was about Joe DiMaggio and his plans to remarry his ex-wife, Marilyn Monroe.

I see nothing wrong with this usage. AHD gives:

1. To prevent the occurrence, realization, or attainment of:
2. To oppose and defeat the efforts, plans, or ambitions of.

Still, arnie, I see Morgan's point. While the term "thwart" does mean "to prevent the occurence of", I have more often heard it used to mean "to run counter to" or "to oppose". When one dies, the act usually isn't by choice as would be the case with those definitions. Technically it probably works, but for logophiles I think it doesn't.
Morgan, I love posts about correct usage of words!

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I have more often heard it used to mean "to run counter to" or "to oppose".

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I haven't. There is always a definite success in preventing whatever the action that is being thwarted. It doesn't just mean "to go against" it means "to go against and succeed.

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I have more often heard it used to mean "to run counter to" or "to oppose"

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This is interesting. I have never seen the word used in the way you describe. Nor did any dictionary I checked give your definition. I think you must be under a misappreshension. Always implicit is the idea that something is prevented, not just the attempt to prevent.

The phrase "he attempted to thwart my plans" makes perfect sense if we substitute "prevent" for "thwart", but reads as "he attempted to try to prevent my plans" if we use your meaning.

I think of thwart as something intentionally done to stop someone. Unless Marilyn intentionally killed herself for the sole purpose of stopping him from marrying her again, I would not use thwart in this sense.

Yes, Angel, I think of it as intentional, too; thus my comment about death not being by choice (I meant that she did not intentionally die for the sole purpose of stopping the marriage). Even though in this particular case Marilyn Monroe did die by suicide, she most likely did not commit suicide to prevent the marriage.

Arnie, you are correct about "thwart" meaning to oppose successfully; I stand corrected. I should have said, to run counter to so as to effectively oppose. Sorry.

However, Arnie, can you see Angel's distinction?

Though I (like Angel) think of the word as limited to intentional interference, the references tell me I'm mistaken. Cambridge International Dictionary gives as an example, My holiday plans have been thwarted by the strike.

Well, I hate to give in, but I must. Morgan & Angel, I have seen enough evidence at this point to say that, indeed, Joe DiMaggio used "thwart" correctly. As everyone here knows, I have the utmost respect for arnie's point of view; his ability with words is amazing, and besides that he is one of the best researchers I have ever seen. Coupled with his view, I also have a colleague whom I highly respect with regard to his use of words; he also agrees with arnie. He wrote me the following about "thwart":

"Thwart can indeed be used as being thwarted by death. Any barrier or obstruction can be called a thwart. The plank in a skiff that you sit
on is a thwart because it is crosswise to axis of the skiff."

Then with Shufitz joining those forces, well, I have been thwarted!

OK... I give. So many people agree, who am I to disagree?

I read a column using thwart today:
"He used every trick he could to thwart the majority of the House and Senate and prevent the creation of thousands of Illinois jobs."

While I waved the white flag in this thread, that use of thwart--with intention--is how I am accustomed to seeing it used. Live & learn!