Gallivant

//ˈɡæl.ɪ.vænt// verb

verb ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To roam about for pleasure without any definite plan. intransitive

    "Bertram, it is true, when he heard of the plan, rebelled, and asserted that what Billy needed was a rest, an entire rest from care and labor. In fact, what he wanted her to do, he said, was to gallivant – to gallivant all day long."

  2. 2
    wander aimlessly in search of pleasure wordnet
  3. 3
    To flirt, to romance. intransitive, obsolete

Example

More examples

"You can't gallivant in here at 2 am and not expect me to be mad."

Etymology

1809, from gallant (“wooing women”), originally in sense “to flirt”, broadened to mean “roaming without plan”.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.