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  1. wanton love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Immoral or unchaste; lewd.
  2. adj. Gratuitously cruel; merciless.
  3. adj. Marked by unprovoked, gratuitous maliciousness; capricious and unjust: wanton destruction.
  4. adj. Unrestrainedly excessive: wanton extravagance; wanton depletion of oil reserves.
  5. adj. Luxuriant; overabundant: wanton tresses.
  6. adj. Frolicsome; playful.
  7. adj. Undisciplined; spoiled.
  8. adj. Obsolete Rebellious; refractory.
  9. v. To act, grow, or move in a wanton manner; be wanton.
  10. v. To waste or squander extravagantly.
  11. n. One who is immoral, lewd, or licentious.
  12. n. One that is playful or frolicsome.
  13. n. One that is undisciplined or spoiled.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Ill brought up; undisciplined; unrestrained; hence, free from moral control.
  2. Characterized by extreme recklessness, fool-hardiness, or heartlessness; malicious; recklessly disregardful of right or of consequences: applied both to persons and to their acts.
  3. Wild; unruly; loose; unrestrained.
  4. Playful; sportive; frolicsome.
  5. Rank; luxuriant.
  6. Characterized by unrestrained indulgence of the natural impulses or appetites; dissolute; licentious.
  7. Particularly, unchaste; lascivious; libidinous; lustful; lewd.
  8. n. A pampered, petted creature; one spoiled by fondness or indulgence; also, a frolicsome, roving, sportive creature; a trifier: used sometimes as a term of endearment.
  9. n. A lewd person; a lascivious man or woman.
  10. To revel; frolic unrestrainedly; sport.
  11. To sport or dally in lewdness; sport lasciviously.
  12. To make wanton.
  13. To spend or waste in wantonness.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. obsolete Undisciplined, unruly; not able to be controlled.
  2. adj. Lewd, immoral; sexually open, unchaste.
  3. adj. obsolete Playful, sportive; being merry or carefree (often used figuratively).
  4. adj. obsolete Self-indulgent, fond of excess; luxurious.
  5. adj. Capricious, reckless of morality, justice etc.; acting without regard for the law or the well-being of others; gratuitous.
  6. adj. obsolete Extravagant, unrestrained; excessive (of speech or thought).
  7. n. A pampered or coddled person.
  8. n. An overly playful person.
  9. n. A self-indulgent person, fond of excess.
  10. n. archaic A lewd or immoral person, especially a prostitute.
  11. v. intransitive To act wantonly; become wanton.
  12. v. transitive To waste or squander, especially in pleasure (often with away).

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Untrained; undisciplined; unrestrained; hence, loose; free; luxuriant; roving; sportive.
  2. adj. Wandering from moral rectitude; perverse; dissolute.
  3. adj. Specifically: Deviating from the rules of chastity; lewd; lustful; lascivious; libidinous; lecherous.
  4. adj. Reckless; heedless.
  5. n. A roving, frolicsome thing; a trifler; -- used rarely as a term of endearment.
  6. n. One brought up without restraint; a pampered pet.
  7. n. A lewd person; a lascivious man or woman.
  8. v. To rove and ramble without restraint, rule, or limit; to revel; to play loosely; to frolic.
  9. v. To sport in lewdness; to play the wanton; to play lasciviously.
  10. v. obsolete To cause to become wanton; also, to waste in wantonness.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. lewd or lascivious woman
  2. v. spend wastefully
  3. v. behave extremely cruelly and brutally
  4. adj. occurring without motivation or provocation
  5. v. indulge in a carefree or voluptuous way of life
  6. v. become extravagant; indulge (oneself) luxuriously
  7. adj. casual and unrestrained in sexual behavior
  8. v. waste time; spend one's time idly or inefficiently
  9. v. engage in amorous play

Etymologies

  1. From wan- + (a descendant of) Old English togen, past participle of tēon ("to train, discipline"). (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English wantowen : wan-, not, lacking (from Old Englishs) + towen, past participle of teen, to bring up (from Old English tēon, to lead, draw). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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Lists

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Comments

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  • hernesheir Cf. cheesytoes. Sep 24, 2009

  • thesaraheffect I've never hear wanton used as a verb, how odd! Sep 17, 2009

  • bilby As a verb ...? Jul 17, 2009

  • sionnach "he has fewer of those humorous caprices of expression of which formerly he was wont to wanton".

    From the Atlantic Monthly review of "Great Expectations", September 1861 issue. Jul 9, 2009

  • yarb Citation on jointure. Sep 12, 2008

  • fictionaldelusions Wanton waste of time Jun 9, 2008

  • sonofgroucho As in wanton hussy. May 7, 2007

  • gloriaha Now I'm hungry. And maybe not for soup! Jan 7, 2007

  • seanahan And my favorite type of Chinese soup :) Jan 6, 2007

  • valse Quite possibly my 10th grade English teacher's favorite word. Jan 5, 2007

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‘wanton’ has been looked up 8342 times, loved by 26 people, added to 166 lists, commented on 11 times, and has a Scrabble score of 9.