Meaning & use
wantonly
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Meaning
adverbnot comparabledisapproving
In a careless, cruel or senseless way that ignores the damage it causes and has no good reason behind it.
Grammar: Goes before or after a verb about harm: wantonly destroy, destroyed wantonly.
Patterns
- wantonly destroy something
- wantonly ignore something
The vandals wantonly smashed the windows of the school.
Soldiers wantonly burned the fields.
She spent her inheritance wantonly, with no thought for the future.
Common combinations
- wantonly destroy
- The gang wantonly destroyed the garden.
- wantonly cruel
- Some of the king's decisions were wantonly cruel.
- wantonly kill
- Poachers wantonly killed the animals for sport.
- wantonly disregard
- The company wantonly disregarded the safety rules.
- wantonly waste
- They wantonly wasted the water supply.
Synonyms and how they differ
- recklessly
- Recklessly stresses ignoring danger, while wantonly stresses ignoring the harm done to others.
- needlessly
- Needlessly only says something was unnecessary and does not suggest cruelty.
- maliciously
- Maliciously implies a deliberate wish to hurt, whereas wantonly can mean mere heartless carelessness.
- gratuitously
- Gratuitously suggests something was done without reason, often used for violence or excess.
Opposites
Word family
- wanton adjective
- cruel or harmful for no good reason
- wantonness noun
- the quality of senseless cruelty or carelessness
Commonly confused: wantonly or wanting?
wantonly vs wanting
Wanting means desiring or lacking something; wantonly describes how a harmful act is done.
Practice
The report accused the firm of ___ polluting the river, even though it knew the damage.
Choose one answer.
Wantonly fits knowing and heartless damage. Accidentally would contradict the knowledge, and the others do not express blame.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wantonly”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.