1
as in obscene
depicting or referring to sexual matters in a way that is unacceptable in polite society
that novel was once regarded as a wanton tale of forbidden love
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in passionate
having a strong sexual desire
in earlier times, novelists usually portrayed wanton women as coming to a bad end
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in cruel
having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others
a wanton attack on unarmed civilians
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of wanton
Caroline Neal, Louisville Courier Journal, 24 Mar. 2026
Referee Peter Bankes had no option but to book him for this wanton act of sponsorship vandalism, but Guardiola will care little.
—James McNicholas, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2026
Matt Schooley, CBS News, 10 Feb. 2026
Parents and teachers concerned about wanton immigration raids and their effect on kids.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wanton
Adjective
Mystic Rayne, 53, is facing charges of wanton endangerment and criminal mischief.
—Caroline Neal, Louisville Courier Journal, 24 Mar. 2026
Referee Peter Bankes had no option but to book him for this wanton act of sponsorship vandalism, but Guardiola will care little.
—James McNicholas, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2026
Noun
Meier said their wanton and reckless conduct and failure to stop the boxing match led to Delgado-Garcia's serious injuries and death.
—Matt Schooley, CBS News, 10 Feb. 2026
Parents and teachers concerned about wanton immigration raids and their effect on kids.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wanton
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wanton
Adjective
-
Faced with that reality, our inability to relate to one another becomes almost obscene.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
6 May 2026
-
For instance, the ruling recognized that the government’s need to protect national security might require it to prevent publication of the number and location of troops and that the primary requirements of decency might require censorship of obscene publications.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The situation involving Stamps is noteworthy in part because her mother, Marion Nzinga Stamps, was a passionate community activist at the Cabrini-Green public housing complex who was known to confront officials to press her case.—
A.D. Quig,
Chicago Tribune,
4 May 2026
-
The somms here are passionate and eager to help find the right wine for you.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
4 May 2026
Adjective
-
Even his students can be casually cruel to each other, emulating a president that Artie almost cannot fathom.—
John Warner,
Chicago Tribune,
2 May 2026
-
Baseball is a sport built on failure surrounded by a cruel, cynical business, but this level of irony is almost too rich to digest.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
1 May 2026
Noun
-
One flirts and drinks and dallies and dances; the other is part child, part monk, his mantel packed with icons and crucifixes, his inner landscape a kind of mental Sagrada Família — a weird and extraordinary edifice constructed around the rigors and promises of Christianity.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
20 Mar. 2026
-
As crude flirts with prices of $100 a barrel or more on the back of the war in Iran, could the US oil sector ride to the rescue of consumers?—
David Wethe,
Bloomberg,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
But demeaning our brand through association with vulgar demagogues is a losing strategy.—
Alma Hernandez,
New York Daily News,
1 May 2026
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The word was considered so vulgar that it was left out of early dictionaries and was rarely printed, though Adams says people were certainly using it.—
Harmeet Kaur,
CNN Money,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Datskovska regularly reports on the season’s hottest accessories and how to acquire them online.—
Stacia Datskovska,
Footwear News,
6 May 2026
-
The signature treatment is the dotsho, or hot stone bath, a ritual locals have practiced for generations to ease joint pain, arthritis, and the toll of long winters spent farming.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
6 May 2026
Adjective
-
In Oddity, Darcy (Carolyn Bracken) is driven entirely by grief over the brutal murder of her twin sister.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
1 May 2026
-
Demand for EVs in China is slowing after the government trimmed consumer subsidies and perks, and there’s no end in sight to a brutal price war as a crowded field of EV rivals jostle to outperform and undercut one another.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
1 May 2026
Adjective
-
The illicit chatbots allegedly produced pornographic images.—
Cerys Davies,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Apr. 2026
-
Pamela Martin, 44, and her boyfriend Christopher O’Kane, 41, both pleaded guilty in March to three counts of making an indecent image of a child, two counts of distributing an indecent image of a child, possession of an extreme pornographic image and publishing an obscene article.—
Christine Pelisek,
PEOPLE,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Wanton.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wanton. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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