DictionaryAI

wantoning

SayWON-tuhn-ingUS/ˈwɑntənɪŋ/UK · AUS/ˈwɒntənɪŋ/

Noun pluralwantonings

2 meanings of wantoning

Practice

  1. 1
    verb
    Present participle and gerund of wanton.

    Swallows were wantoning over the river in the evening light.

    Critics accused the young duke of wantoning away the family fortune on parties and racehorses.

    Note

    The verb ranges from innocent to improper, and the words around it decide which: swallows wantoning over a river are simply at play, while a duke wantoning away a fortune is squandering it, with away marking that use. Without either cue it can mean behaving without moral restraint. After be it is the verb in progress; as a gerund it names the behavior itself.

  2. 2
    nounarchaic
    Conduct that is unrestrained, willful, or without regard for morality.

    The town gossips kept a close record of the young heir's wantonings.

    Years of wantoning had emptied his purse and ruined his good name.

    Note

    The noun survives as an archaism, most at home in the plural for a run of unruly acts: the wantonings of a spoiled child, a young heir's wantonings. Used today it sounds deliberately old-fashioned, so in ordinary prose wanton behavior says the same thing in words a reader expects.

wantoning is a form of wanton

wanton, verb: To waste or squander something, especially on pleasure, usually with away. Full entry

Forms
wantonwantons he/she/itwantoning -ing formwantoned past tense, past participle
Spelling
wanton → wantoning: add -ing

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