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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

wanton.

Undisciplined, unruly; not able to be controlled.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈwɒntən/Received-Pronunciation/ˈwɑntən/General-American/ˈwɒntən/Australia/ˈwɒntɒn/Australia
  1. Undisciplined, unruly; not able to be controlled.

    archaic
  2. Playful, sportive; merry or carefree.

    obsolete
  3. Lewd, immoral; sexually open, unchaste.

  4. Capricious, reckless of morality, justice etc.; acting without regard for the law or the well-being of others; gratuitous.

  5. Extravagant, unrestrained, excessive.

    archaic
Where this word comes from

From Middle English wantoun, wantowen, wantoȝen, wantowe (“uneducated; unrestrained; licentious; sportive; playful”), from wan- (“not, un-, mis-”) + towen, i-towen (“educated”, literally “towed; led; drawn”), from Old English togen, ġetogen, past participle of tēon (“to train, discipline”), equivalent to wan- + towed.

noun/ˈwɒntən/Received-Pronunciation/ˈwɑntən/General-American/ˈwɒntən/Australia/ˈwɒntɒn/Australia
  1. A pampered or coddled person.

  2. An overly playful person; a trifler.

  3. A self-indulgent person, fond of excess.

  4. A lewd or immoral person, especially a prostitute.

    archaic
Where this word comes from

From Middle English wantoun, wantowen, wantoȝen, wantowe (“uneducated; unrestrained; licentious; sportive; playful”), from wan- (“not, un-, mis-”) + towen, i-towen (“educated”, literally “towed; led; drawn”), from Old English togen, ġetogen, past participle of tēon (“to train, discipline”), equivalent to wan- + towed.

verb/ˈwɒntən/Received-Pronunciation/ˈwɑntən/General-American/ˈwɒntən/Australia/ˈwɒntɒn/Australia
  1. To rove and ramble without restraint, rule, or limit; to revel; to play loosely; to frolic.

    intransitive
  2. To waste or squander, especially in pleasure (most often with away).

    transitive
    The young man wantoned away his inheritance.
  3. To act wantonly; to be lewd or lascivious.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English wantoun, wantowen, wantoȝen, wantowe (“uneducated; unrestrained; licentious; sportive; playful”), from wan- (“not, un-, mis-”) + towen, i-towen (“educated”, literally “towed; led; drawn”), from Old English togen, ġetogen, past participle of tēon (“to train, discipline”), equivalent to wan- + towed.

noun/ˈwɒntən/Received-Pronunciation/ˈwɑntən/General-American/ˈwɒntən/Australia/ˈwɒntɒn/Australia
  1. wonton (Chinese dumpling)

    Philippines · Singapore
Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Cantonese 雲吞 /云吞 (wan⁴ tan¹).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.