1300-1400wan- ‘wrongly, badly’ (from Old Englishwan ‘lacking’) + towen, past participle of tee ‘to pull, bring up, educate’(11-16 centuries) (from Old Englishteon)
Examples
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
the wanton killing of civilians
EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
Feeling drugged and quite incredibly wanton, she moved her fingers to his jaw.
It tells of homes set aflame, planes dropping turpentine bombs and the wanton shooting of unarmed black men on the street.
She rolls her eyes, and gets this wanton look on her face whenever she tells me how sexy he is.
The Home Secretary, David Blunkett, took a tough line, saying that he would not tolerate wanton destruction and violence.
Collocations
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES►wanton destruction
(=done deliberately and without caring about it)· People were shocked by the wanton destruction that occurred during the riots.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN►destruction
· The Home Secretary, David Blunkett, took a tough line, saying that he would not tolerate wanton destruction and violence.· As stated in the supplement, the heritage erosion is due to ignorance, and not wanton destruction.
1deliberately harming someone or damaging something for no reason: an act of wanton aggression a wanton disregard for life2old-fashioned a wanton woman is considered immoral because she has sex with a lot of men3formal uncontrolled: wanton growth—wantonly adverb—wantonness noun [uncountable]