wantonly

adverb

Definition of wantonlynext
1
as in recklessly

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2
as in wastefully

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Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of wantonly But even here, where the damage is being done gleefully and wantonly, the US Congress has stood up to these funding cuts in a bipartisan manner. — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 3 July 2026 Likewise, a circumstance all by itself could be the matter of regulating AI makers about allowing their AI to wantonly provide mental health advice. — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wantonly
  1. recklessly
  2. wastefully
  3. heedlessly
  4. indulgently
  5. desperately
  6. comfortably
Adverb
  • Kumar faces two counts of first-degree manslaughter and three counts of recklessly endangering another person in Deschutes County stemming from the fatal wreck.
    — Eric Mack , Bill Melugin, FOXNews.com, 26 Oct. 2026
  • But rushing recklessly into a plan to spend nearly $1 billion in tax revenue would underscore the narrative that the county is too rash in its spending.
    — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of recklessly
Adverb
  • On a pretty dead pitch offering very little to the bowlers, the quartet wastefully surrendered their wickets for all that England deserved credit (particularly Archer) for persistence and a generally probing line after what had been a fairly disastrous start to the day from Carse.
    — Tim Spiers, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2025
Definition of wastefully
Adverb
  • Considered from one angle, the movie is superficial and conventional, zipping heedlessly between the characters without fretting about point of view, creating scenes that don’t so much illuminate characters as simply push the story along.
    — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Yet, future relations with Canada will be the bellwether for whether America can recover the critical alliances this administration has heedlessly ripped apart.
    — Trudy Rubin, Mercury News, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of heedlessly
Adverb
  • Longevity helps; if Picasso hadn’t outlived his Blue Period and Guernica by a long stretch of years, he might be dinted today as indulgently moody.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2026
  • There are no indulgently long songs—SUSS record in the present perfect.
    — Brian Howe, Pitchfork, 12 May 2026
Definition of indulgently
Adverb
  • Cohen insists the joke was always on Ali G, not the Black culture the character was so desperately trying to emulate.
    — Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Fielder played up a version of himself on the show, acting as a dumbly ambitious business school graduate, socially inept and desperately seeking connection.
    — Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of desperately
Adverb
  • Blum envisions residents and customers will soon be able to walk comfortably from meals at restaurants to grab a nightcap at his lounge without having to go to Prairie Village, Mission or downtown KC for a nice cocktail.
    — Noelle Alviz-Gransee, Kansas City Star, 30 Oct. 2026
  • And yet, despite prices rising comfortably ahead of target in recent months, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)—led by Warsh—appears to be taking its foot off the gas in terms of raising interest rates.
    — Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of comfortably

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wanton
wantonly
wantonness
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Cite this Entry

“Wantonly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wantonly. Accessed 4 Nov. 2026.

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