Meaning & use
wanton
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noundisapproving
Done on purpose or with careless disregard, causing harm without any good reason.
Grammar: Almost always before a noun: wanton destruction, a wanton act.
Patterns
- wanton disregard for something
The vandals caused wanton damage to the playground.
He showed wanton disregard for the safety of others.
The report condemned the wanton killing of wildlife.
adjectivecomparableold-fashioneddisapproving
Sexually unrestrained, in an old and now offensive-sounding use about women.
Grammar: Dated and judgmental; avoid it in modern writing.
The old ballad warns against a wanton woman.
Victorian critics called the heroine wanton.
adjectivecomparableliteraryarchaic
Playful, carefree and unrestrained, in a poetic sense.
Grammar: Literary; often used of wind, waves or growth.
A wanton breeze tossed the curtains about.
The garden ran wanton with vines and flowers.
nouncountablearchaicoffensive
A person, usually a woman, thought to be unchaste; an old-fashioned insult.
Grammar: Archaic and derogatory; found mostly in historical writing.
In the play she is slandered as a wanton.
Historians note how the word wanton was used to shame women.
Word forms
| comparative | more wanton |
|---|---|
| superlative | most wanton |
Common combinations
- wanton destruction
- The fire led to wanton destruction of the old library.
- wanton cruelty
- Witnesses described wanton cruelty to the animals.
- wanton disregard
- The driver acted with wanton disregard for the pedestrians.
- wanton violence
- The street was left scarred by wanton violence.
- wanton waste
- The inquiry exposed wanton waste of public money.
Synonyms and how they differ
- gratuitous
- Gratuitous means unnecessary and uncalled for but is not always cruel, while wanton implies cruelty or recklessness.
- senseless
- Senseless stresses that there was no reason, whereas wanton adds a sense of deliberate carelessness.
- malicious
- Malicious means intending to hurt, but wanton can also mean simply not caring who gets hurt.
- reckless
- Reckless focuses on ignoring risk, while wanton stresses harm done without justification.
Opposites
Word family
- wantonly adverb
- in a cruel or careless manner
- wantonness noun
- the quality of being wanton
- want noun
- a lack of something, the root sense of the old word
Commonly confused: wanton or wonton?
wanton vs wonton
A wonton is a filled dumpling in Chinese cooking. Wanton is the adjective about cruel or reckless acts.
Practice
The judge criticized the ___ destruction of the historic monument by the vandals.
Choose one answer.
Wanton destruction means harm without reason. Wonton is a dumpling and wonted means usual, and waning means decreasing.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wanton”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.