rant

verb \ ˈrant \

Definition of rant

intransitive verb

1 :to talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner

2 :to scold vehemently

transitive verb

:to utter in a bombastic declamatory fashion

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ranter

noun

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rantingly

play \ˈran-tiŋ-lē\ adverb

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Examples of rant in a Sentence

“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.

Recent Examples of rant from the Web

There are plenty of people my lovely wife Cassandra rants against — some of whom don't even live in our house.

— joel stein, Time, "Me, My Liberal Wife and What Happened When We Went to a Gun Range," 24 Aug. 2017
Familia, who was posthumously promoted to detective, was fatally shot by a 34-year-old man who had ranted against the police.

— ray sanchez, CNN, "Thousands mourn fallen New York police officer," 11 July 2017
But on May 20, Christian reportedly ranted and swore for over an hour.

— everton bailey jr., OregonLive.com, "West Linn police chief on leave amid policy violation investigation," 22 June 2017
Taxi TV still exists, even though the Haggler has been ranting about that abomination for years.

— david segal, New York Times, "Hanging Up His Fedora, the Haggler Bows Out," 9 June 2017
At that point Wolcott allegedly slapped the officer, knocking off his glasses, and started ranting.

— barbara hijek, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Chair Dare? Man accused of slapping off-duty deputy in fight over seat in town square," 1 June 2017
Friday’s episode on the light rail unfolded around 5 p.m. when the police said Mr. Christian began ranting and talking disparagingly about two women; one was wearing a hijab.

— phoebe flanigan and matt stevens, New York Times, "Oregon Man Accused of Deadly Anti-Muslim Tirade Continues Rant in Court," 30 May 2017
Christian, who authorities said had a history of making extremist statements on social media, was ranting at, and talking disparagingly about, the two women, one of whom was wearing a hijab.

— daniel victor, The Seattle Times, "Three men stood up to anti-Muslim taunts. Two paid with their lives.," 28 May 2017
When confronted with a disappointing hotel stay, guests’ first instinct isn’t to turn to Yelp or TripAdvisor to rant.

— lori weisberg, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Hated your hotel stay? Here's why, survey says," 25 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of rant

obsolete Dutch ranten, randen

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1601

See Words from the same year

rant Synonyms

Synonyms

bluster, fulminate, huff, rave, spout

Related Words

sound off, speak out, speak up; blare, blurt out, bolt; bloviate, blow, declaim, harangue, mouth (off), orate, pontificate; carry on, rage, storm, take on

Near Antonyms

grunt, murmur, mutter, slur; breathe, whisper

rant

noun

Definition of rant

1 a :a bombastic extravagant speech

b :bombastic extravagant language

2 dialectal British :a rousing good time

Examples of rant in a Sentence

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