wanton

adj

1. (archaic)Undisciplined, unruly; not able to be controlled.

   “As Flies to wanton Boyes are we to th' Gods, / They kill us for their sport.”

   “'Tis the cruel gripe, / That lean hard-handed poverty inflicts, / The hope of better things, the chance to win, / The wiſh to ſhine, the thirſt to be amus'd, / That at the found of Winter's hoary wing, / Unpeople all our counties, of ſuch herds, / Of flutt'ring, loit'ring, cringing, begging, looſe, / And wanton vagrants, as make London, vaſt / And boundless as it is, a crowded coop.”

2. (obsolete)Playful, sportive; merry or carefree.

   “The grave simplicity of the philosopher was ill calculated to engage her wanton levity, or to fix that unbounded passion for variety, which often discovered personal merit in the meanest of mankind.”

3. Lewd, immoral; sexually open, unchaste.

   “if wenches will hang out lures for fellows, it is no matter what they suffer: I detest such creatures; and it would be much better for them that their faces had been seamed with the smallpox: but I must confess I never saw any of this wanton behaviour in poor Jenny [...].”

   “I know I ought never to have dreamt of sending that valentine—forgive me, sir—it was a wanton thing which no woman with any self-respect should have done.”

   “People should not marry too young, because, if they do, the children will be weak and female, the wives will become wanton, and the husbands stunted in their growth.”

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

   “Edward himself, now thoroughly enlightened on her character, had no scruple in believing her capable of the utmost meanness of wanton ill-nature.”

   “Several cases of serious wanton damage have occurred on the new electric trains on the Manchester-Bury line of the London Midland Region during recent weeks.”

   “these developments in Gaza are a consequence of the state of siege that the tiny territory has been under – a society that has been fenced-in, starved, and seen its very fabric torn apart by unemployment and wanton military destruction.”

5. (archaic)Extravagant, unrestrained, excessive.

   “the market price will rise more or less above the natural price, according as either the greatness of the deficiency, or the wealth and wanton luxury of the competitors, happen to animate more or less the eagerness of the competition.”

   “But do not think it argues change of temper since I wrote the Frère review, or a wanton praise of one man and blame of another.”

noun

1. A pampered or coddled person.

   “I would have thee gone — / And yet no farther than a wanton's bird, / That lets it hop a little from her hand, / Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves, / And with a silken thread plucks it back again[…]”

2. An overly playful person; a trifler.

   “you but dally, / I pray you passe with your best violence, / I am afeard you make a wanton of me.”

   “Peace, my wantons; he will do / More than you can aim unto.”

   “This quiet remark serves to remind one, among other things that, Dickens was not without his reasons for a spirit of distrust towards religion by law established, as well as towards sundry other forms of religion--the spirit which, especially in his early career, was often misunderstood as hostility to religion in itself, a wanton mocking at sacred things.”

3. A self-indulgent person, fond of excess.
4. (archaic)A lewd or immoral person, especially a prostitute.

   “...paints with tremendous force the adulteries of the two wantons Aholah and Aholibah, Israel and Judah, and their love of strangers...”

5. (Philippines, Singapore)wonton (Chinese dumpling)

   “Add wanton, chives and vegetables to broth and season with 1 tablespoon salt, ½ teaspoon sesame oil, and 1 chicken cube.”

   “Spread mayonnaise sparingly on one side of each of the wantons. Now make a stepped sandwich so that you can see about one-third of each type of fish on your serving plate. Start with one wanton, mayonnaise-side up, cover with a slice of tuna add another wanton, mayonnaise-side up, leaving one-third of the tuna showing.”

   “Dumplings, wanton, and spring rolls are typical Han foods.”

   “I settled on Chinese takeout for dinner—vegetable lo mein, beef and broccoli, hot and sour soup with wantons and egg rolls.”

   “Also in 2012, he [Joey Chestnut] consumed 390 shrimp wantons in eight minutes at the finale of the CP Biggest Eater Competition in Bangkok, Thailand.”

verb

1. (intransitive)To rove and ramble without restraint, rule, or limit; to revel; to play loosely; to frolic.

   “[…] We will fetch thee straight / Adonis painted by a running brook, / And Cytherea all in sedges hid, / Which seem to move and wanton with her breath / Even as the waving sedges play wi’ th’ wind.”

   “[…] Nature here / Wantond as in her prime, and plaid at will / Her Virgin Fancies […]”

   “How merrily we would sally into the fields; and strip under the first warmth of the sun; and wanton like young dace in the streams […]”

   “As for her soft brown hair, it was free to wanton in the winds, save where a strip of velvet restrained it around her brows.”

   “It might well be, said Mrs. McNab, wantoning on with her memories […]”

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

   “The young man wantoned away his inheritance.”

   “[W]ith this money the King shall wanton away his time in pleasures […]”

   “[…] Samson, having wantoned away his strength and paying the penalty […]”

   “And never would he wanton his cause away with wine.”

   “1948, Digby George Gerahty (as Robert Standish), Elephant Walk, New York: Macmillan, 1949, Chapter 15, p. 214, If either of us felt the respect for George that you imply by your manner, you know perfectly well that we wouldn’t have wantoned away the day as we have.”

3. (intransitive)To act wantonly; to be lewd or lascivious.

   “Be loving and courteous to your fellow Servants, not gigling or idling out your time, or wantoning in the society of men […]”

   “Happy he that ſips Eternally ſuch Nectar dovvn, that unconfin'd may Lave, and VVanton there in ſateleſs Draughts of ever ſpringing Beauty— […]”

   “[…] whole herds or flocks of other women securely, and scarce regarded, traverse the park, the play, the opera, and the assembly; and though, for the most part at least, they are at last devoured, yet for a long time do they wanton in liberty, without disturbance or controul.”