wantonness
"wantonness" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wantonness” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state or characteristic of being wanton; recklessness, especially as represented in lascivious or other excessive behavior.
Corpus desk
Index EN-wantonness · wantonness · English
wantonness · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "W" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | wantonness |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “wantonness” in English
Rare enough to double-check
wantonness is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for wantonness, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English wantonnesse, wantonesse, wantounesse, wantownesse, equivalent to wanton + -ness. The correct English form is wantonness, spelled W-A-N-T-O-N-N-E-S-S.
Definition
- 1The state or characteristic of being wanton; recklessness, especially as represented in lascivious or other excessive behavior.
- 2A particular wanton act.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how wantonness appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The ſpirit of vvantonness is, ſure, ſcared out of him: if the devil have him not in fee-ſimple, vvith fine and recovery, he vvill never, I think, in the vvay of vvaſte, attempt us again.
A vvantonneſſe in vvealth, methinks I agree not vvith, / Tis ſuch a trouble to be married too, / And have a thouſand things of great importance, / Jevvells and plates, and fooleries moleſt mee, / To have a mans brains vvhimſied with his vvealth: […]
Etymology
From Middle English wantonnesse, wantonesse, wantounesse, wantownesse, equivalent to wanton + -ness.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.