wanton
adjective · noun · verb
Simple meaning
Lewd, immoral; sexually open.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
wawntuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈwɔntən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Lewd, immoral; sexually open, unchaste.
Capricious, reckless of morality, justice etc.; acting without regard for the law or the well-being of others; gratuitous.
noun
An overly playful person; a trifler.
A self-indulgent person, fond of excess.
A pampered or coddled person.
philippinessingapore
Wonton (Chinese dumpling)
verb
intransitive
To rove and ramble without restraint, rule, or limit; to revel; to play loosely; to frolic.
Waste time; spend one's time idly or inefficiently
transitive
To waste or squander, especially in pleasure (most often with away).
intransitive
To act wantonly; to be lewd or lascivious.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Lewd, immoral; sexually open, unchaste.
Used this way, wanton is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.