Wanton

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: wan=ton

CIDE DICTIONARY

Wanton, a. [OE. wantoun, contr. from wantowen; pref. wan- wanting (see Wane, v. i.), hence expressing negation + towen, p. p., AS. togen, p. p. of teón to draw, to educate, bring up; hence, properly, ill bred. See Tug, v. t.].

•  Untrained; undisciplined; unrestrained; hence, loose; free; luxuriant; roving; sportive.  [1913 Webster]

  "A wanton and a merry [friar]."  [1913 Webster]

  "[She] her unadorned golden tresses wore
  Disheveled, but in wanton ringlets waved."  [1913 Webster]

  "How does your tongue grow wanton in her praise!"  [1913 Webster]
•  Wandering from moral rectitude; perverse; dissolute.  Roscommon.  [1913 Webster]
•  Specifically: Deviating from the rules of chastity; lewd; lustful; lascivious; libidinous; lecherous.  [1913 Webster]

  "Not with wanton looking of folly."  [1913 Webster]

  "[Thou art] froward by nature, enemy to peace,
  Lascivious, wanton."  [1913 Webster]
•  Reckless; heedless; as, wanton mischief.  [1913 Webster]

Wanton, n. 

•  A roving, frolicsome thing; a trifler; -- used rarely as a term of endearment.  [1913 Webster]

  "I am afeard you make a wanton of me."  [1913 Webster]

  "Peace, my wantons; he will do
  More than you can aim unto."  [1913 Webster]
•  One brought up without restraint; a pampered pet.  [1913 Webster]

  "Anything, sir,
  That's dry and wholesome; I am no bred wanton."  [1913 Webster]
•  A lewd person; a lascivious man or woman.  [1913 Webster]

Wanton, v. i. 

•  To rove and ramble without restraint, rule, or limit; to revel; to play loosely; to frolic.  [1913 Webster]

  "Nature here wantoned as in her prime."  [1913 Webster]

  "How merrily we would sally into the fields, and strip under the first warmth of the sun, and wanton like young dace in the streams!"  [1913 Webster]
•  To sport in lewdness; to play the wanton; to play lasciviously.  [1913 Webster]

Wanton, v. t. 

 To cause to become wanton; also, to waste in wantonness.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Wanton, adj., n., & v.
--adj.
1 licentious; lewd; sexually promiscuous.
2 capricious; random; arbitrary; motiveless (wanton destruction; wanton wind).
3 luxuriant; unrestrained (wanton profusion).
4 archaic playful; sportive (a wanton child).
--n. literary an immoral or licentious person, esp. a woman.
--v.intr. literary 1 gambol; sport; move capriciously.
2 (foll. by with) behave licentiously.

Derivative

wantonly adv. wantonness n.

Etymology

ME wantowen (wan- UN-(1) + towen f. OE togen past part. of teon discipline, rel. to TEAM)

THESAURUS

Wanton

Adamic, Casanova, Don Juan, Jezebel, Lothario, Paphian, abandoned, accident-prone, adrift, afloat, alternating, amorphous, arbitrary, backsliding, bad woman, baggage, bat, baton, be promiscuous, bill and coo, billy club, bitch, bludgeon, breakneck, broad, capricious, careless, carnal, carouse, celebrate, chambering, changeable, changeful, chase women, chippy, clitoromaniac, club, cocotte, commit adultery, contrary, coo, copulate, cranky, crotchety, cut loose, cyprian, dally, debauch, debauchee, desperate, desultory, deviable, devil-may-care, dissipate, dizzy, drab, easy, easy lay, easy woman, eccentric, erratic, erring, fallen, fanciful, fantasied, fantastic, fast and loose, fickle, fitful, flaky, fleshly, flickering, flighty, flirt, flitting, floozy, fluctuating, fool, fornicate, frail, frail sister, freakish, furious, gallant, gay deceiver, gay dog, giddy, go-go, gratuitous, grisette, grovel, harebrained, harridan, harum-scarum, hasty, headlong, hell around, hotheaded, humorsome, hurried, hussy, hysteromaniac, immoderate, impetuous, impulsive, impure, inconsistent, inconstant, incontinent, indecisive, indulgent, infirm, intemperate, irregular, irrepressible, irresolute, irresponsible, jade, jezebel, jollify, jolly, kinky, lady-killer, lapsed, lark, lax, lead, let go, let loose, let off steam, libertine, licentious, light, live hard, lollygag, loose, loose woman, loose-moraled, lover-boy, mace, mad, maggoty, make love, make merry, make out, make whoopee, malevolent, malicious, mazy, mercurial, moody, motiveless, neck, nonrestrictive, notional, nymphet, nympho, nymphomaniac, of easy virtue, of loose morals, out of control, out of hand, overeager, overenthusiastic, overzealous, peccable, permissive, perverse, pet, petulant, philander, philanderer, pickup, pig, plunge into dissipation, postlapsarian, precipitant, precipitate, precipitous, prodigal, profligate, promiscuous, prostitute, quean, quirky, raise hell, rake, rakehell, rambling, rampant, recidivist, recidivistic, reckless, reinless, restless, revel, riotous, rip, roister, roue, rounder, roving, run riot, scatterbrained, see life, shapeless, shifting, shifty, shillelagh, shuffling, skirt chaser, skylark, slack, slap-bang, slapdash, slattern, sleep around, slut, smooch, spasmodic, spineless, spiteful, spoon, spree, step out, strumpet, sweet-talk, swing, swinger, tart, temperamental, toy, tramp, trifle, trollop, trull, truncheon, unaccountable, unangelic, unasked, unbridled, uncalled-for, uncertain, unchaste, unchecked, unclean, uncoerced, uncompelled, unconstrained, uncontrolled, uncurbed, undependable, undisciplined, unfixed, unforced, ungodly, ungood, ungoverned, uninhibited, unmastered, unmeasured, unmuzzled, unpredictable, unreasonable, unreined, unreliable, unrepressed, unreserved, unrestrained, unrestrictive, unrighteous, unruly, unsaintly, unsettled, unstable, unstable as water, unstaid, unsteadfast, unsteady, unsubdued, unsuppressed, unvirtuous, uteromaniac, vacillating, vagarious, vagrant, variable, vicissitudinary, vicissitudinous, virtueless, volatile, walking phallus, wallow, wandering, war club, wavering, wavery, wavy, wayward, weak, wench, whimsical, whisper sweet nothings, whoop it up, whore, whorish, wild, wishy-washy, wolf, woman chaser, womanize, womanizer

ROGET THESAURUS

Wanton

Caprice

N caprice, fancy, humor, whim, whimsy, whimsey, whimwham, crotchet, capriccio, quirk, freak, maggot, fad, vagary, prank, fit, flimflam, escapade, boutade, wild-goose chase, capriciousness, kink, capricious, erratic, eccentric, fitful, hysterical, full of whims, maggoty, inconsistent, fanciful, fantastic, whimsical, crotchety, kinky, particular, humorsome, freakish, skittish, wanton, wayward, contrary, captious, arbitrary, unconformable, penny wise and pound foolish, fickle, frivolous, sleeveless, giddy, volatile, by fits and starts, without rhyme or reason, nil fuit unquain sic inipar sibi, the deuce is in him.

Sufficiency

VB be sufficient, suffice, do, just do, satisfy, pass muster, have enough, eat, one's fill, drink one's fill, have one's fill, roll in, swim in, wallow in, wanton, abound, exuberate, teem, flow, stream, rain, shower down, pour, pour in, swarm, bristle with, superabound, render sufficient, replenish, Adj, sufficient, enough, adequate, up to the mark, commensurate, competent, satisfactory, valid, tangible, measured, moderate, full, ample, plenty, plentiful, plenteous, plenty as blackberries, copious, abundant, abounding, replete, enough and to spare, flush, choke-full, chock-full, well-stocked, well- provided, liberal, unstinted, unstinting, stintless, without stint, unsparing, unmeasured, lavish, wholesale, rich, luxuriant, affluent, wantless, big with, unexhausted, unwasted, exhaustless, inexhaustible, Adv, sufficiently, amply.

Unconformity

N unconformity, nonconformity, unconformity, disconformity, unconventionality, informality, abnormity, abnormality, anomaly, anomalousness, exception, peculiarity, infraction of law, breach, of law, violation of law, violation of custom, violation of usage, infringement of law, infringement of custom, infringement of usage, teratism, eccentricity, bizarrerie, oddity, je ne sais quoi, monster, monstrosity, rarity, freak, freak of Nature, weirdo, mutant, rouser, snorter, individuality, idiosyncrasy, originality, mannerism, aberration, irregularity, variety, singularity, exemption, salvo, nonconformist, nondescript, character, original, nonesuch, nonsuch, monster, prodigy, wonder, miracle, curiosity, flying fish, black sheep, black swan, lusus naturae, rara avis, queer fish, mongrel, random breed, half-caste, half-blood, half-breed, metis, crossbreed, hybrid, mule, hinny, mulatto, tertium quid, hermaphrodite, phoenix, chimera, hydra, sphinx, minotaur, griffin, griffon, centaur, saggittary, kraken, cockatrice, wyvern, roc, dragon, sea serpent, mermaid, merman, merfolk, unicorn, Cyclops, men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders, teratology, fish out of water, neither one thing nor another, neither fish nor fowl, neither fish flesh nor fowl nor good red herring, one in a million, one in a way, one in a thousand, outcast, outlaw, off the beaten track, oasis, uncomformable, exceptional, abnormal, abnormous, anomalous, anomalistic, out of order, out of place, out of keeping, out of tune, out of one's element, irregular, arbitrary, teratogenic, lawless, informal, aberrant, stray, wandering, wanton, peculiar, exclusive, unnatural, eccentric, egregious, out of the beaten track, off the beaten track, out of the common, out of the common run, beyond the pale of, out of the pale of, misplaced, funny, unusual, unaccustomed, uncustomary, unwonted, uncommon, rare, curious, odd, extraordinary, out of the ordinary, strange, monstrous, wonderful, unexpected, unaccountable, outre, out of the way, remarkable, noteworthy, queer, quaint, nondescript, none such, sui generis, unfashionable, fantastic, grotesque, bizarre, outlandish, exotic, tombe des nues, preternatural, denaturalized, heterogeneous, heteroclite, amorphous, mongrel, amphibious, epicene, half blood, hybrid, androgynous, androgynal, asymmetric, adelomorphous, bisexual, hermaphrodite, monoclinous, qualified, singular, unique, one-of-a-kind, newfangled, novel, non-classical, original, unconventional, unheard of, unfamiliar, undescribed, unprecedented, unparalleled, unexampled, unconformably, except, unless, save barring, beside, without, save and except, let alone, however, yet, but, once in a blue moon, once in a million years, Int, what on earth!, what in the world!, What the devil!, Holy cow!, Can you top that?, Sacre bleu, never was seen the like, never was heard the like, never was known the like, I could hardly believe it, I saw it, but I didn't believe it.

Freedom

N freedom, liberty, independence, license, facility, scope, range, latitude, play, free play, full play, free scope, full scope, free stage and no favor, swing, full swing, elbowroom, margin, rope, wide berth, Liberty Hall, franchise, denization, free man, freed man, livery man, denizen, autonomy, self-government, liberalism, free trade, noninterference, Monroe Doctrine, immunity, exemption, emancipation, enfranchisement, affranchisement, free land, freehold, allodium, frankalmoigne, mortmain, bushwhacker, freelance, free thinker, free trader, independent, free, free as air, out of harness, independent, at large, loose, scot-free, left alone, left to oneself, in full swing, uncaught, unconstrained, unbuttoned, unconfined, unrestrained, unchecked, unprevented, unhindered, unobstructed, unbound, uncontrolled, untrammeled, unsubject, ungoverned, unenslaved, unenthralled, unchained, unshackled, unfettered, unreined, unbridled, uncurbed, unmuzzled, unrestricted, unlimited, unmitigated, unconditional, absolute, discretionary, unassailed, unforced, uncompelled, unbiassed, spontaneous, free and easy, at ease, at one's ease, degage, quite at home, wanton, rampant, irrepressible, unvanquished, exempt, freed, freeborn, autonomous, freehold, allodial, gratis, eleutherian, unclaimed, going a begging, freely, ad libitum, ubi libertas ibi patria, free white and twenty-one.

Impurity

N impurity, uncleanness, immodesty, grossness, indelicacy, indecency, impudicity, obscenity, ribaldry, Fescennine, smut, bawdry, double entente, equivoque, concupiscence, lust, carnality, flesh, salacity, pruriency, lechery, lasciviency, lubricity, Sadism, sapphism, incontinence, intrigue, faux pas, amour, amourette, gallantry, debauchery, libertinish, libertinage, fornication, liaison, wenching, venery, dissipation, seduction, defloration, defilement, abuse, violation, rape, incest, prostitution, social evil, harlotry, stupration, whoredom, concubinage, cuckoldom, adultery, advoutry, crim, con, free love, seraglio, harem, brothel, bagnio, stew, bawdyhouse, cat house, lupanar, house of ill fame, bordel, bordello, impure, unclean, not to be mentioned to ears polite, immodest, shameless, indecorous, indelicate, indecent, Fescennine, loose, risque, coarse, gross, broad, free, equivocal, smutty, fulsome, ribald, obscene, bawdy, pornographic, concupiscent, prurient, lickerish, rampant, lustful, carnal, carnal-minded, lewd, lascivious, lecherous, libidinous, erotic, ruttish, salacious, Paphian, voluptuous, goatish, must, musty, unchaste, light, wanton, licentious, debauched, dissolute, of loose character, of easy virtue, frail, gay, riggish, incontinent, meretricious, rakish, gallant, dissipated, no better than she should be, on the town, on the streets, on the pave, on the loose, adulterous, incestuous, bestial.

Libertine

N libertine, voluptuary, rake, debauchee, loose fish, rip, rakehell, fast man, intrigant, gallant, seducer, fornicator, lecher, satyr, goat, whoremonger, paillard, adulterer, gay deceiver, Lothario, Don Juan, Bluebeard, chartered libertine, adulteress, advoutress, courtesan, prostitute, strumpet, harlot, whore, punk, fille de joie, woman, woman of the town, streetwalker, Cyprian, miss, piece, frail sisterhood, demirep, wench, trollop, trull, baggage, hussy, drab, bitch, jade, skit, rig, quean, mopsy, slut, minx, harridan, unfortunate, unfortunate female, unfortunate woman, woman of easy virtue, wanton, fornicatress, Jezebel, Messalina, Delilah, Thais, Phryne, Aspasia, Lais, lorette, cocotte, petite dame, grisette, demimonde, chippy, sapphist, spiritual wife, white slave, concubine, mistress, doxy, chere amie, bona roba, pimp, procurer, pander, pandar, bawd, conciliatrix, procuress, mackerel, wittol.

Amusement

VB amuse, entertain, divert, enliven, tickle the fancy, titillate, raise a smile, put in good humor, cause laughter, create laughter, occasion laughter, raise laughter, excite laughter, produce laughter, convulse with laughter, set the table in a roar, be the death of one, recreate, solace, cheer, rejoice, please, interest, treat, regale, amuse oneself, game, play a game, play pranks, play tricks, sport, disport, toy, wanton, revel, junket, feast, carouse, banquet, make merry, drown care, drive dull care away, frolic, gambol, frisk, romp, caper, dance, keep up the ball, run a rig, sow one's wild oats, have one's fling, take one's pleasure, paint the town red, see life, desipere in loco, play the fool, make holiday, keep holiday, go a Maying, while away the time, beguile the time, kill time, dally, smile, simper, smirk, grin, grin like a Cheshire cat, mock, laugh in one's sleeve, laugh, laugh outright, giggle, titter, snigger, crow, snicker, chuckle, cackle, burst out, burst into a fit of laughter, shout, split, roar, shake one's sides, split one's sides, hold both one's sides, roar with laughter, die with laughter.

Rashness

N rashness, temerity, want of caution, imprudence, indiscretion, overconfidence, presumption, audacity, precipitancy, precipitation, impetuosity, levity, foolhardihood, foolhardiness, heedlessness, thoughtlessness, carelessness, desperation, Quixotism, knight-errantry, fire eating, gaming, gambling, blind bargain, leap in the dark, leap of faith, fool's paradise, too many eggs in one basket, desperado, rashling, madcap, daredevil, Hotspur, fire eater, bully, bravo, Hector, scapegrace, enfant perdu, Don Quixote, knight-errant, Icarus, adventurer, gambler, gamester, dynamitard, boomer, rash, incautious, indiscreet, imprudent, improvident, temerarious, uncalculating, heedless, careless, without ballast, heels over head, head over heels, giddy, wanton, reckless, wild, madcap, desperate, devil-may-care, hot-blooded, hotheaded, hotbrained, headlong, headstrong, breakneck, foolhardy, harebrained, precipitate, impulsive, overconfident, overweening, venturesome, venturous, adventurous, Quixotic, fire eating, cavalier, janty, jaunty, free and easy, off one's guard, post haste, a corps perdu, hand over head, tete baissee, headforemost, happen what may, come what may, neck or nothing, the devil being in one, non semper temeritas est felix, paucis temeritas est bono multis malo.