ranted; ranting; rants
Synonyms of rant
1
intransitive : to complain loudly, angrily, or unreasonably
… films and books ranting against corporations and the gun lobby …Joel Stein
"You can rant and rave all you want," she said, "but it's not going to change things."
2
transitive + intransitive : to talk or recite in a noisy, excited, or bombastic manner
… barkers ranting at the crowds …Gerald Shapiro
… the actor who rants Shakespeare …H. E. Clurman
ranter noun

rant

2 of 2

noun

1
a(1)
: a long, angry speech or piece of writing : tirade
went on a rant about the price of gas
… in Walden's transcendental rants I found all my angsty teenage convictions gloriously and authoritatively ratified.M. Allen Cunningham
(2)
: a bombastic extravagant speech
… two other boys … happened on a street orator; tiring of the rant, one boy pushed the speaker's hat off with a stick …Oscar Wilde
b
: bombastic extravagant language
The speeches were full of rant, cant, and vanity …Ursula K. Le Guin
2
dialectal British : a rousing good time

Examples of rant in a Sentence

Verb “You can rant and rave all you want,” she said, “but it's not going to change things.” He ranted that they were out to get him. Noun after complaining about the hotel's lousy service, the woman went off on another rant about the condition of her room instead of addressing the current crisis, the mayor's speech was a lot of rant emphasizing his accomplishments
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
Trump, ranting for minutes on end about Balogun’s red card on the morning of the match, became the voice of it. Adam Crafton, New York Times, 20 July 2026 Trump only yesterday demanded national airtime to rant about electoral conspiracy theories. Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 19 July 2026
Noun
Watching her in Congress is like scrolling through the Facebook feed of the auntie who fires off unhinged political rants. Alejandro Avila Outkick, FOXNews.com, 21 July 2026 For news, don’t miss Sarah Todd’s great story on THC beverages, which was spurred by a colleague’s rant in one of our regular team meetings. Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 21 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for rant

Word History

Etymology

Verb

obsolete Dutch ranten, randen

First Known Use

Verb

1604, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Noun

1650, in the meaning defined at sense 1a2

Time Traveler
The first known use of rant was in 1604

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Rant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rant. Accessed 25 Jul. 2026.

Kids Definition

: to talk loudly and wildly
ranter noun

rant

2 of 2 noun
: loud and wild speech

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