wanton

Etymology

From Middle English wantoun, wantowen, wantoȝen, wantowe (“uneducated; unrestrained; licentious; sportive; playful”), from wan- (“not, un-, mis-”) + towen, i-towen (“educated”, literally “towed; led; drawn”), from Old English togen, ġetogen, past participle of tēon (“to train, discipline”), equivalent to wan- + towed.

adj

1. (archaic) Undisciplined, unruly; not able to be controlled.
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. 1776, Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume 1
3. Lewd, immoral; sexually open, unchaste.
   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. 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.21
4. Capricious, reckless of morality, justice etc.; acting without regard for the law or the well-being of others; gratuitous.
   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. 10 Aug 2009, Ben White, The Guardian
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. 1776, Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Book I
   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. 19 Jan 1876, John Ruskin, Letters

noun

1. A pampered or coddled person.
2. An overly playful person; a trifler.
   Peace, my wantons; he will do / More than you can aim unto. 1611, Ben Jonson, Oberon, the Faery Prince
   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. 1898, George Gissing, Charles Dickens: A Critical Study
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... 1891, Mrs. Oliphant, Jerusalem: Its History and Hope
   However, terrible as it may seem to the tall maiden sisters of J.P.'s in Queen Anne houses with walled vegetable gardens, this courtesan, strumpet, harlot, whore, punk, fille de joie, street-walker, this trollop, this trull, this baggage, this hussy, this drab, skit, rig, quean, mopsy, demirep, demimondaine, this wanton, this fornicatress, this doxy, this concubine, this frail sister, this poor Queenie—did actually solicit me, did actually say ‘coming home to-night, dearie’ and my soul was not blasted enough to call a policeman. 1936, Anthony Bertram, Like the Phoenix

verb

1. (intransitive) To rove and ramble without restraint, rule, or limit; to revel; to play loosely; to frolic.
   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 […] c. 1820, Charles Lamb, “Christ’s Hospital, Five and Thirty Years Ago”, in Essays of Elia, Paris: Baudry’s European Library, published 1835, page 15
   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. 1835, William Gilmore Simms, The Partisan, Harper, Chapter XI, page 139
   It might well be, said Mrs. McNab, wantoning on with her memories […] 1927, Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse, London: Hogarth Press, published 1930, Part 2, 9, p. 217
2. (transitive) To waste or squander, especially in pleasure (most often with away).
   The young man wantoned away his inheritance.
   1660, Samuel Pepys, diary entry for 28 April, 1660, in Henry B. Wheatley (ed.), The Diary of Samuel Pepys, London: George Bell, 1905, Volume 8, p.290, […] with this money the King shall wanton away his time in pleasures […]
   […] Samson, having wantoned away his strength and paying the penalty […] 1881, Christina Rossetti, “St. Matthias, Apostle”, in Called to Be Saints, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, page 153
   And never would he wanton his cause away with wine. 1929, “A Song of an Old General”, in Witter Bynner, Jiang Kanghu, transl., The Jade Mountain, New York: Vintage, published 1972, page 203
   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 […] 1677, Hannah Woolley, The Compleat Servant-Maid, London: T. Passinger, page 62