Synonyms for wantonness


Grammar : Noun
Spell : won-tn
Phonetic Transcription : ˈwɒn tn

Top 10 synonyms for wantonness Other synonyms for the word wantonness

Définition of wantonness

Origin :
  • c.1300, wan-towen, "resistant to control; willful," from Middle English privative prefix wan- "wanting, lacking" (from Old English wan "wanting;" see wane) + togen, past participle of teon "to train, discipline;" literally "to pull, draw," from Proto-Germanic *teuhan (cf. Old High German ziohan "to pull;" see tug). The basic notion perhaps is "ill-bred, poorly brought up;" cf. German ungezogen "ill-bred, rude, haughty," literally "unpulled."
  • As Flies to wanton Boyes are we to th' Gods, They kill vs for their sport. [Shakespeare, "Lear," 1605]
  • Especially of sexual indulgence from late 14c. The only English survival of a once-common Germanic negating prefix still active in Dutch (cf. wanbestuur "misgovernment," wanluid "discordant sound"), German (wahn-), etc. Related: Wantonly; wantonness.
  • noun abandon
Example sentences :
  • Half in misgiving, half in wantonness, she turned aside and hid in the ditch.
  • Extract from : « Creatures of the Night » by Alfred W. Rees
  • He devastates his own kingdom in the wantonness of his force.
  • Extract from : « The Mirror of the Sea » by Joseph Conrad
  • In all the wantonness of children, we tore the fruit in handfuls, and threw it around us.
  • Extract from : « Confessions Of Con Cregan » by Charles James Lever
  • As for any further learning, he thought it a waste of time, a kind of wantonness.
  • Extract from : « The Best Short Stories of 1920 » by Various
  • There is nothing to prevent its legislating in the wantonness of caprice.
  • Extract from : « Ancient Law » by Sir Henry James Sumner Maine
  • Fickleness towards a lover is bad, but fickleness after playing the wife is wantonness.'
  • Extract from : « A Pair of Blue Eyes » by Thomas Hardy
  • I may be a shallow creature, but it has been natural growth, not wantonness.'
  • Extract from : « Robert Elsmere » by Mrs. Humphry Ward
  • It was hers—the last thing I had of hers—and it was shot for wantonness!
  • Extract from : « Curious, if True » by Elizabeth Gaskell
  • And when I upbraided her for this wantonness, she gave me cruel words.
  • Extract from : « Athelstane Ford » by Allen Upward
  • The horror, the tragedy, the wantonness of it all touched him mightily.
  • Extract from : « Charles Frohman: Manager and Man » by Isaac Frederick Marcosson and Daniel Frohman

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