- Today's Word
Wanton
WON-tun
Definition
(adjective) Deliberate and unprovoked; showing a reckless disregard for consequences, rules, or the wellbeing of others.
Example
The wanton destruction left behind after the riot shocked even the most seasoned first responders who arrived on scene.
Word Origin
From Middle English wantoun, formed from wan- (lacking) + toun, an old past participle of teon, meaning “to discipline or bring up.” Literally, then, wanton described someone who had been brought up without discipline — undirected, unrestrained, ungoverned. The word appears in English as early as the 14th century, initially carrying connotations of lasciviousness and moral looseness before broadening into its modern sense of reckless, unprovoked disregard.
Fun Fact
The word wanton has had a remarkably busy history across English literature, shifting meaning with almost every century. In medieval writing it often described sexual promiscuity. By the Renaissance it had expanded to cover playful mischief — Shakespeare uses it in both senses across different plays. By the 18th and 19th centuries it had settled primarily into its modern sense of deliberate, needless cruelty or destruction. Today it appears most often in legal and journalistic contexts — “wanton disregard” is a specific standard in tort law, sitting between negligence and intentional misconduct, describing behavior so reckless it demonstrates indifference to the harm it causes.