vagrancy

noun

va·​gran·​cy ˈvā-grən(t)-sē 

plural vagrancies

1

: the state or action of being vagrant

2

: the offense of being a vagrant

3

: vagary

Synonyms

• bee
• caprice
• crank
• fancy
• freak
• humor
• kink
• maggot
• megrim
• notion
• vagary
• whim
• whimsy
• whimsey

Examples of vagrancy in a Sentence

a frequent victim to the vagrancies of the heart, she had a succession of passionate but short-lived romances

Recent Examples on the Web

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear an appeal challenging a judicial ruling that established a de facto constitutional right to vagrancy. —The Editorial Board, WSJ, 12 Jan. 2024

Tingley found that during fall migrations, geomagnetic disturbances were strongly associated with vagrancy. —Maddie Bender, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Nov. 2023

For local voters, the councilman said, easy access to marijuana conjures up associations with elevated crime and vagrancy. —John Aguilar, Hartford Courant, 4 Jan. 2024

In the other study, in Scientific Reports, ecologist Morgan Tingley of the University of California, Los Angeles, correlated bird vagrancy with geomagnetic disturbances and solar activity. —Maddie Bender, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Nov. 2023

In the fall and not the spring, more birds drifted with the wind, and geomagnetic disturbances were associated with vagrancy. —Maddie Bender, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Nov. 2023

Some have flown into Alaska, but in 2021 one of the birds, nicknamed Stella, made it all the way across North America to Nova Scotia, a behavior that scientists describe as avian vagrancy. —The New York Times Elaine Chen Emily Anthes, New York Times, 18 May 2023

He was duly arrested, for vagrancy and for attempting to incite a riot, and thrown in jail, but the charges were dismissed for lack of evidence. —Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 31 July 2023

But spare some blame for liberal judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals who have now divined in the Constitution a right to public vagrancy. —The Editorial Board, WSJ, 7 July 2023

Word History

Etymology

vagr(ant) entry 1 or vagr(ant) entry 2 + -ancy

First Known Use

1641, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Kids Definition

vagrancy

noun

va·​gran·​cy ˈvā-grən(t)-sē 

plural vagrancies

: the state or action of being vagrant

Legal Definition

vagrancy

noun

va·​gran·​cy ˈvā-grən-sē 

plural vagrancies

1

: the act or practice of wandering about from place to place

2

: the crime of wandering about without employment or identifiable means of support

the court struck down the vagrancy law as unconstitutionally vague

Note: Most vagrancy laws have been abolished.