Wantonly

//ˈwɒntənli// adv

adv ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    in a wanton manner.

    "Undoubtedly Madam—and it has always been a sentiment of mine—that to propagate a malicious Truth wantonly—is more despicable than to falsify from Revenge […]"

Adverb
  1. 1
    in a licentious and promiscuous manner wordnet
  2. 2
    in a wanton manner wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
carelesslydesperatelyfastfuriouslyhastilyhead over heels

Example

More examples

"In childhood, many violent criminals wantonly mistreated animals."

Etymology

From Middle English wantounly, wantounliche, equivalent to wanton + -ly.

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