1
as in cruelty
disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others
the barbaric wantonness with which the guards treated the prisoners of war
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in grossness
the quality or state of being obscene
novels characterized chiefly by their sheer wantonness
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wantonness
Noun
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Matthew has been charged with first-degree murder, as well as related weapons possession and animal cruelty charges.—
Laura Barcella,
People.com,
7 Mar. 2025 -
The whole movie is about the ways that cruelty and injustice become codified.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
7 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Ukrainians React: Trump’s claim that Ukraine was responsible for its war with Russia has left many Ukrainians disillusioned, including residents of Bucha, a Kyiv suburb that has become a symbol of Russian brutality.—
Chris Buckley,
New York Times,
25 Feb. 2025
-
The biggest plutocrats of the first Gilded Age, for all their brutalities, played an essentially stabilizing role from behind the scenes—the Cardinal Richelieu role, the wise banker in the background.—
Adam Gopnik,
The New Yorker,
24 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Without condoning the vulgarity of Team Trump, the shock may be useful.—
Gordon G. Chang,
Newsweek,
3 Mar. 2025
-
Even those Republicans who are wary of his volatile leadership style, penchant for vulgarity and willingness to violate conservative orthodoxies are generally reluctant to air those criticisms publicly.—
Mike Lillis,
The Hill,
21 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
The reason the rabbit vibrator is called this was to get around obscenity laws in Japan when the products were exported.—
Amanda Chatel,
Glamour,
19 Feb. 2025
-
City Manager Dan Dugger’s recent behavior — walking down from the chambers to confront a civilian in a threatening manner, yelling obscenities, and ultimately being restrained by law enforcement — is not just a single lapse in judgment.—
Dominick Vargas,
Sun Sentinel,
1 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Over-Nite Sensation is a triumph: a concentrated digest from perhaps the most popular stretch of his career, and a freeze-frame of his compositional flowering and ingenious lyrical ribaldry.—
Daniel Felsenthal,
The Atlantic,
27 Nov. 2023
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Finding liberty in punk artistry, Dury updated the tradition of British music-hall ribaldry and rude folk humor.—
Armond White,
National Review,
3 Aug. 2022
Noun
-
Simply dispense a few pumps onto your face, gently massage the oil into the skin, and watch all the impurities melt away.—
Denise Primbet,
Glamour,
28 Feb. 2025
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Those impurities can include nitrate (used for fertilizers), disinfection byproducts, arsenic, or per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, also called PFAS, Stoiber said.—
Kristen Rogers,
CNN,
26 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Wantonness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wantonness. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
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