How to use wanton in a sentence

23 example sentences · adjective, noun, verb

Wanton means undisciplined, unruly; not able to be controlled. Example: “The young man wantoned away his inheritance.”

Examples of wanton by meaning

adjectiveLewd, 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

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

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.1960 May, “Wanton Damage in Trains”, in Railway Magazine, page 300
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.2009 August 10, Ben White, The Guardian

verbTo waste or squander, especially in pleasure (most often with away).

The young man wantoned away his inheritance.
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

nounWonton (Chinese dumpling).

Add wanton, chives and vegetables to broth and season with 1 tablespoon salt, ½ teaspoon sesame oil, and 1 chicken cube.1979, Lucy Lo, “Wanton Soup with Vegetable”, in Chinese Cooking with Lucy Lo: Authentic Mouth-watering Recipes You Can Prepare at Home by a...
Spread mayonnaise sparingly on one side of each of the wantons.1993, George Mure, Jill Mure, “Sashimi Mille Feuille”, in Mures Fish Tales & Tasmanian Seafood, Hobart, Tasmania: Platypus Publishing...
Dumplings, wanton, and spring rolls are typical Han foods.2005, Meri Meredith, “Taiwan”, in Dealing with an International Clientele: Communications, Diplomacy and Etiquette (Information Services...

More sentences with wanton

I was bruised by such wanton criticism.From the entry bruise
Yesterday's snow collected in black sootening clumps, some streaked yellow by wanton dogs.2016, Paul Quintanilla, Jamie Budlow. From the entry sooten
“Cadelé”) and as a result has become a “feddle” (“A wanton,” RC, s.v.2010, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet, →ISBN. From the entry feddle
Like the great eighteenth-century courtesans of Europe, she knew who and what she was and turned wanton provocation into an art.2002, Donald Richie, The Inland Sea, Stone Bridge Press, page 192. From the entry oiran
Whosis has been around, and has made provisions to circumvent any wanton slaughter of his perfectly good name.1934, Inland Printer, American Lithographer, volume 93, page 55. From the entry Whosis
From various sources I hear tales of such wanton destruction of nations' property in all parts of India.1930, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, “Notes on the Way to Dandi”, in Non-Violent Resistance, page 246. From the entry dog in the manger
But she, the giglot wanton, did not break a bedvow.1922 February 2, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC. From the entry giglot
"For troth I'm a merry dog, I—a wanton wag, a bully boy and jovial, though woeful o' look!"1920, Jeffery Farnol, The Geste of Duke Jocelyn, Fytte 5. From the entry bully boy
“Jungle standards do not countenance wanton atrocities.1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Countess Explains”, in The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company…. From the entry faugh
“But you read him misunderstandingly when you conclude that the struggle for existence sanctions your wanton destruction of life.”1904, Jack London, The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC. From the entry misunderstandingly
Conservationists accused it of wanton destruction.2020 June 3, Andrew Mourant, “A safer railway in a greener habitat”, in Rail, page 58. From the entry conservationist
Even the most wanton precipitators of war always try to give it, in the eyes of the common people, a defensive character.1918, Harold Goddard, chapter 3, in Morale, New York: George H. Doran, page 58. From the entry precipitator
The MAGAland (aka Republican Party) cult members cry “Blue Lives Matter” and then, with wanton disregard, kill and maim the police officers defending the Capitol of the United States.2021 February 21, Jeremiah O’Leary Jr., “GOP lets Trump off the hook again”, in Staten Island Sunday Advance, Staten Island, N.Y., →OCLC…. From the entry MAGAland
Miraculously, we all made it back on the bus, but I've never seen a more bacchanalian scene of wanton debauchery than the ride back to the hotel.2015, Adam Jones, Bomb: My Autobiography. From the entry carnage
Many reforms are actually pseudoreforms; the state prosecutes those among its own personnel guilty of wanton brutality and violence without addressing the structural roots of this type of behavior.1981, Social Research, volume 48, page 154. From the entry pseudoreform

Meaning of wanton

adjective Undisciplined, unruly; not able to be controlled.
adjective Playful, sportive; merry or carefree.
adjective Lewd, immoral; sexually open, unchaste.

Full definition of wanton

Questions about wanton in a sentence

How do you use wanton in a sentence?: Wanton is used as an adjective, noun and verb. For example: “The young man wantoned away his inheritance.”
What is a short sentence with wanton?: “Conservationists accused it of wanton destruction.”
What does wanton mean?: Wanton means undisciplined, unruly; not able to be controlled.

Adapted from Wiktionary: wanton (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use wanton in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/wanton. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.